Building Respect

Teach your child to respect people with disabilities

Your child will get along with classmates and make friends more easily if he’s respectful. He’ll then be able to concentrate on learning rather than conflicts at school.

Of course, respect must extend to all people—not just those who look and act like him. Perhaps your child already knows someone in the family or neighborhood who has a disability. There might be a special education student in his school.

Advise your child that:

Some people have had an illness or accident that caused their disabilities. Others were born that way.
People with disabilities have many other abilities. People in wheel-chairs can be intelligent or funny. They can even be friends.
He can find similarities with those who are “different.” To make this point, create a list of all the ways he is like someone who cannot see. They both like to listen to music, play certain games, etc.
It’s not polite to stare at people just because they’re different. It makes them uncomfortable. But it’s okay to look at them. Ignoring them is like saying they don’t exist.
He can ask questions, politely. Let him know that some may not want to answer questions. The best approach is to make eye contact. Then say, “May I ask you a question?”