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How To Use The Paralympics To Talk To Kids About Limb Differences
Let kids know that it’s okay for them to ask questions.
By Marie Holmes
Aug 29, 2024, 05:45 AM EDT
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Alex Slitz via Getty Images
Musa Motha, a South African dancer, performs during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games on August 28, 2024 in Paris, France.
Kids notice differences just as readily as adults do. But they haven’t developed a filter to understand when social norms call for them to keep their observations and questions to themselves. If they see a person whose body looks different from theirs, they’re liable to ask — potentially in a loud voice, in a public place — “What happened to his legs?” or “Why is her arm missing?”
It’s important to talk to kids about disability and all the different ways that people’s bodies appear and function, yet this isn’t a conversation that many parents feel prepared to have, having been raised in a society where they learned to keep such questions to themselves.
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