Fear, fear of disabilities

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/tvand ... bies/print

If missing a limb scares a child on TV, what about all other disabilities, inclusive of autism? Shouldn't a different attitude start being presented early in life? Or are we supposed to be a humanity of top models?

I used to work in a preschool inclusion program, and there were parents that did not want to have their kids in that class because some of the children had disabilities. They went to the "beautiful people" preschool where everyone was "perfect". I was really kind of surprised, but I don't know why. People like that are ignorant. On a good note, there were actually more parents who wanted to put their kids in that class specifically for that reason, so they get used to different kids with different abilities and learn very early to accept them for who they are.

While I don't believe this sort of thing reflects the majority (keep in mind it was a small number of complaints), it does annoy me. People's stupidity never ceases to amaze me. I guess they'd prefer that there children were sheltered from human differences growing-up. Maybe they'd rather there kids turn-out like one of those people who stare in the street, mouths hanging open, when someone passes them with a disability.

Would these parents complain that someone from a minority ethnic background might scare there kids? Probably less likely. Hopefully this sort of nonsense will go the same way.

Thankfully, some children are more tolerant and understanding than many adults.

I was going to post how I am slightly prejudiced against everyone I have never met and people who have done harm to me, but that might get interpreted the wrong way. Also, for a while people had me convinced that I should avoid disabled people at all costs, even though my brother is the equivalent of an LFA who is good at social interaction because he is missing so much of his brain.