Young children and their reaction to disability.

I’m currently doing work in Primary schools promoting inclusion and working with the children to help them to learn about and respect diversity.

Part of this work involves bringing people with a disability, specifically people with limb loss, into schools to speak with the children.  After giving a talk, the amputees join me and my coaches to deliver inclusive and adapted sports to the little ones.  I’ve been doing this a while now and I still find it interesting to observe the reaction of some of the younger children when they meet someone with a disability for the first time. In my experience, the children often have several different reactions. On occasion, some of these reactions are in sharp contrast. There are little ones, like a young girl called Saffron (not her real name) that I met at a local school recently. Children like Saffron are generally beautifully accepting, sometimes to the point of nonchalance.  This is sometimes due to the child having a member of the family, close friend or relative who has a disability. Then there are those who are inquiring. They readily approach us and are full of questions, along the lines of “does it hurt”, “will it grow back” and, one of my favourites, “what’s it like having a robot leg.”  Then, of course, occasionally there are little ones, like Gemma (again not her real name) incidentally from the same school, who’s reaction ranges from apprehension to outright fear.

I blame the parents!

Seriously though, they are getting this reaction from somewhere. I have seen first hand parents telling children to “come away” and “don’t stare” and in some cases I’ve heard people say to their children “don’t look or the Boogie man will get you.”  

What is it with some people? 

The worse case I’ve ever seen was at a community event. I was with a colleague who happened to be a double amputee. So, he was a person of short statue.  I heard a man say to his young son, “Oh come and look at the funny little man”.

Seriously?

It’s important that we educate our children in this regard.  I’m fortunate to be working with a great charity called STEEL BONES.   An important strand to the charity’s work is education. The charity aims to dispel any negative or preconceived ideas about amputees and plans to educate both children and adults about the facts and reality of living with limb loss.

Together with STEEL BONES I offer a series of short, two-hour sports events to Primary school children delivered by qualified coaches but supported by amputees.

The objectives for the Limb-it-less games are two-fold:

The interaction of amputees and children through a shared sporting experience helps to challenge assumptions and break down barriers. It helps to overcome the “fear factor” The fear that this is different and therefore scary.

Secondly it helps the amputees, many of which may be new, with their rehabilitation”.

There are surely few things more traumatic than losing a limb. Coming to terms with a person’s new physical self can be a long and for some a painful journey. In some cases, self-esteem is threatened, and people lose confidence. Working with children can be enormously empowering. Playing games alongside young children in a safe and secure school environment will, in my view, be of tremendous benefit to any amputee and particularly to someone struggling with finding their way after a recent amputation.

It also helps to educate our children to be accepting and respecting of diversity. Coming together helps them be a bit more like Saffron and a bit less like Gemma.

STEEL BONES