How to Talk to Kids About Differences and Inclusion with Beth Leipholtz
How do we talk to kids about children who have differences like spina bifida, fragile X syndrome, autism, or who are deaf or blind? Many times when children ask, out of curiosity, about a child’s difference that they see on the playground, at school or in a store, some adults are quick to shush that child out of fear of embarrassing the other child, the other parent, or themselves. It can catch us off-guard and we may not know what to say. In chapter 5 of my book, which is on talking to kids about diversity and inclusion, I highlight one of my very best friend’s children, Nate, who has Cerebral Palsy and Hydrocephalus, and is now a teen who is happy to tell you about his differences—but it’s not always that way—so how do we talk to our children, when they DO have a difference, about that difference so that they aren’t ashamed and they know that it’s simply part of what makes them who they are– but not all that they are. For this, we are talking to Beth Leipholtz.