Talking to Kids about Disabilities & Special Needs
Archived Q&A and Reviews
Questions
Books about Down Syndrome for K+ children?
May 2011
I am looking for recommendations of books about children with Down Syndrome that are targeted at typically developing K+ children to increase understanding and support healthy relationships in our community. Thanks. bookworm
I really liked the picture book ''How Smudge Came'' by Nan Gregory. Here's a synopsis: Cindy, who lives in a group home and works all day at Hospice House, fights to keep the small stray dog she finds on the street. The thing I liked about it was that her disability and her living situation were presented very matter-of-factly, as backdrop to the story. I couldn't remember the name of the book, but tracked it down via a Google search that turned up this website: http://www.elmhurstpubliclibrary.org/Kids/SpecialNeedsChildrensBooklist.php, which has a section with 9 titles for Down Syndrome. Carrie
Explaining autism and Down Syndrome to kids
August 2008
Hello wise parents...I am looking for some advice on how to explain down syndrome and autism to a five year old (and a three year old, if possible). Every year, we vacation with an adult with down syndrome AND our new next door neighbor has a slightly older child with autism. My elder daughter is asking questions and I am searching for a way to explain the special circumstances for each person.
My elder daughter worships our friend with down syndrome (she is the only one who will show her how to bait the cradad traps at Tahoe), but is having a hard time understanding the combination of her adultness (obvious age, has a job, etc) and her childness (messy eating, poor reader, etc). My younger child is a bit scared of her...bothered by her different-ness or that the woman complains about her loudness. I just try to explain that screaming bothers her (and it does...more than non-down syndrome peers).
There hasn't been any curiosity expressed yet re: our new neighbor who is autistic, but I am sure that it will come soon. My elder daughter spent a few hours with him and a sibling last weekend -- the three of them watching a movie while I volunteered down the hall. He doesn't speak, but his parents tell me that he understands perfectly. He does grunt and make other noises, but I am not sure that those would stand out to my daughter as a few of her friends have speech difficulties.
So the question is...how do explain to her what makes these children different, but special. I tried to explain 'down syndrome' to her as something that happened before our friend was born that makes things more challenging for her like reading and writing (current interests of my child) and that she is special because she is such a hard worker and overcomes these challenges. But, I fell like my explanation falls short.
Does anyone have a good explanation to help her understand (and even my younger daughter) the amazing gifts these friends make to their families and those who get to spend time with them? And, I do not mean that in a condescending way. I truly love my friend's sister with down syndrome and as I get to know my autistic neighbor's mother, I hope that she will understand that I could not care less if he is wandering around my house while we are sitting in the living room or making noises that don't fall within the realm of normal. -anon
Thank you for your thoughtful question! I have 4 kids and my second child, darling daugther, has Down syndrome so i'll tell you how i explained it to my son when he was around your child's age. He obviously knows lots of kids with Ds as well as autism and cp and other special needs. We just always talked about differences in people and Ds is something somepeople are born with and affects the way they look - shorter, little ears and nose, beautiful eyes :-) and the way they learn etc. I tend to explain autism more on an individual basis but generally explain that somepeople are sensitive to noise, some to crowds, or textures. It's important to be open to all their questions and also I tend to watch myself from over explaining stuff. We also are pro-people first language so its a woman with Downs syndrome instead of a Downs woman (maybe nitpicky sorry :-)
I really like all of Todd Parr's books but especially the ''It's Okay to Be Different'' book and it has always been a good conversation starter with my kids including my daughter with Ds! EAB
The best explanation is the simplest: there are many kinds of people in the world, and they all deserve respect. Down syndrome and autism are not ''special''; they are just normal human variations. A mom