Kat,

Agreed.  In fact, my neighbor who has a 4 and 2 year old had to have  
that exact conversation with her 4 year old Sunday.  He came over to  
me and pushed me in a playful way and I would  have fallen except for  
the car behind me to stop me toppling over.  His mom was about to say  
"You can't push Linda" when she stopped short and said "You can't  
push PEOPLE"...but then I went on to remind him why it was especially  
important not to play like that with me.  Good learning all around!

Linda
On May 13, 2008, at 5:45 PM, ksalkin wrote:

> Why tell him not to push over just kids who are struggling to  
> walk?  He
> shouldn't be pushing anyone.  Just my two cents.
>
> Kat
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Cerebral Palsy List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On  
> Behalf Of
> Virginia Perry
> Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 4:22 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Explaining the difference
>
>
> Last Tuesday (May 6), I took my 9yr-old son Daniel to physical therapy
> before school. As is my habit, I dropped him off and went for my  
> walk around
> the neighborhood. When I returned, about 15 minutes before his  
> therapy was
> due to end, I was met at the door by the PT, who said, "Daniel  
> shoved down
> this little girl on crutches and won't apologize."  I took Daniel  
> over to
> apologize to the little girl, but he wouldn't. Then I took him  
> outside,
> explained that he WOULD apologize, took him back in, and he did,  
> but he
> rushed away immediately afterwards. The PT said, "I've never seen  
> Daniel
> behave that way before."  I responded, Yeah, if I didn't know  
> better, I'd
> think he'd shoved her down because he thought she was cute and is now
> embarrassed."
>
> I turned around and the little girl (about a year younger than my  
> son) was
> looking at me as if I were insane. I said, "Honey, little boys are  
> just
> weird sometimes." Then the female PT who was stretching her out  
> said, "Yeah,
> they really are!"
>
> When I got Daniel back to the car and we were heading for school, I  
> asked
> him, "Daniel, did you shove that little girl down because you  
> thought she
> was cute?" He nodded, blushed, and said, "esss, kooot." (He has  
> difficulty
> talking).
>
> First, I tried to explain that you can't push people on crutches.  
> He  looked
> dubious. After all he's a boy in leg braces; you push him down, and he
> bounces right back. I then took the short cut of telling him that  
> little
> girls don't like to be pushed down. Instead, he should give her his  
> best
> smile.
>
> Since then I've been wondering how to explain to him that in most  
> respects,
> people with disabilities shouldn't be treated any differently than  
> other
> people. In another sense, some people with disabilities do require a
> slightly different code of conduct
> (i.e.: don't go around pushing down kids who are struggling to  
> walk). Anyone
> know of any good kids' books on this subject?
>
> Incidentally, this morning Daniel rushed over to the little girl  
> (who was
> sitting down), smiled hugely, and ran off.
>
> And so it starts.....
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