Disabilities are a lot more public than they used to be. Once upon a time, there was a great amount of segregation and disabled people, many of whom were excluded from society. However, this is not the case, and our children are now being exposed to people with all manner of disabilities, and everyday life, which is good.
However, if your child begins to have questions about disability, some of you may struggle to have that conversation in a meaningful and positive way. You may not have the tools to approach the subject, which is understandable if you have never had such a similar conversation with your parents or other caregivers throughout your life.
There are many schools of thought when it comes to having this conversation, and most experts agree that it’s not about getting it right so much as making sure that your child understands the importance of equality and compassion. They need to understand from a young age that just because somebody is differently abled from them or looks different because of a physical disability, they are not any less of a person or any less important.
It’s important to emphasise that these people require certain help, but that doesn’t make them a problem or any kind of burden. Instead, children should be taught that it’s good to help these people and to offer assistance when necessary without making disabled people feel less independent.
As an NDIS Provider Gold Coast, we work tirelessly to try and help create a better sense of reputation and public image for people who have long-term disabilities. There is a real gap between the way that people live their lives and public perception, and it needs to be shortened.
Ultimately, teaching children about the importance of disability and compassion from a young age will help them to grow up appreciating that other people may be different to them, and that’s okay. We have a responsibility to teach our children to be productive, accepting members of society, and people with disabilities are just as entitled to that as anybody else.
We understand you might be reluctant to have this conversation out of fear of saying something incorrect or giving your children the wrong idea, but if you put compassion and morality at the forefront of what you’re doing, it’s very difficult to go wrong.
Ultimately, these types of conversations are very important for making sure the children grow up to be well-adjusted and accepting of people who are different from them. People with disabilities need all the public support they can possibly get because they are entitled to live their lives without fear of being treated differently or viewed differently. If we can instill these values in children from a young age, it becomes a lot easier to create a society where everybody is kind and tolerant. It’s definitely a difficult conversation for some, but it’s also a very important one, and we applaud any parent that takes the time to talk to the children about disability in a grown-up and mature way.