One thing that I learned when working with special needs adults: THEY WANT TO BE TREATED LIKE NORMAL FUCKING ADULTS.
I'm serious. I got so much positive feedback from grateful parents for treating their kids like regular teenagers/adults. They told me that all of their lives, they were treated like little kids because of their disabilities and because of that, never got any semblance of a taste of what it's like to be a normal teenager and they were very grateful for my treating them the way I treated my other friends. They want that. They want to be treated like everyone else. They don't want this coddling "oh he's so cute" bullshit. Would YOU think that someone takes you seriously as a human being if all they did was coddle you like a damned baby? Probably not.
I don't blame people for acting like this considering all of the shit people put out about treating the special needs "extra special", but if you actually talk to them and get to know them, you'll realize that they don't much care for that coddling BS and it makes them feel like they're retarded. Yeah. It makes them feel like they're retarded.
Exactly! Treat everyone who is an adult like an adult unless it later becomes apparent there's some reason you shouldn't.
On a similar note, I have a friend who uses a wheelchair and when she has a can of coke or something, she usually rests it on the arm of her wheelchair (while holding onto it). She was sitting outside a shop waiting for her friend to come out and when she looked round, an old lady was putting coins in the coke can. She'd thought it was a charity collecting tin simply because she associated people in wheelchairs with charity.
Aww, my friend tells it as a funny story. The lady did think she was doing a nice thing and I'd still sooner people try to be nice (and get it wrong sometimes) than be outright nasty. :/
Exactly! We have Goodwill employees at my work, I get soooo annoyed when the lady in the next cubicle starts using her high-pitched child-talk voice. Treat the person as you would anyone else. If they have trouble, THEN simplify things. But dont use the baby-talk voice! Grr lol.
IIN that I think these compliments to the disabled are patronising?
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One thing that I learned when working with special needs adults: THEY WANT TO BE TREATED LIKE NORMAL FUCKING ADULTS.
I'm serious. I got so much positive feedback from grateful parents for treating their kids like regular teenagers/adults. They told me that all of their lives, they were treated like little kids because of their disabilities and because of that, never got any semblance of a taste of what it's like to be a normal teenager and they were very grateful for my treating them the way I treated my other friends. They want that. They want to be treated like everyone else. They don't want this coddling "oh he's so cute" bullshit. Would YOU think that someone takes you seriously as a human being if all they did was coddle you like a damned baby? Probably not.
I don't blame people for acting like this considering all of the shit people put out about treating the special needs "extra special", but if you actually talk to them and get to know them, you'll realize that they don't much care for that coddling BS and it makes them feel like they're retarded. Yeah. It makes them feel like they're retarded.
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dappled
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MsWVgal
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Anonymous Post Author
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Exactly! Treat everyone who is an adult like an adult unless it later becomes apparent there's some reason you shouldn't.
On a similar note, I have a friend who uses a wheelchair and when she has a can of coke or something, she usually rests it on the arm of her wheelchair (while holding onto it). She was sitting outside a shop waiting for her friend to come out and when she looked round, an old lady was putting coins in the coke can. She'd thought it was a charity collecting tin simply because she associated people in wheelchairs with charity.
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NeuroNeptunian
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Justsomejerk
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VioletTrees
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Shoulda had that old lady pay for her a new coke >.< I'd be pissed!
Wheelchair you say.....
I would've run that lady down. D:<
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dappled
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Aww, my friend tells it as a funny story. The lady did think she was doing a nice thing and I'd still sooner people try to be nice (and get it wrong sometimes) than be outright nasty. :/
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BlueAlice
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Oh, I completely agree.
I thought your friend's story was pretty funny, but I would have been a little annoyed at first if I'd been her.
The Undateables guy wouldn't mind being called cute, but I personally would be a little frustrated by that.
Exactly! We have Goodwill employees at my work, I get soooo annoyed when the lady in the next cubicle starts using her high-pitched child-talk voice. Treat the person as you would anyone else. If they have trouble, THEN simplify things. But dont use the baby-talk voice! Grr lol.
Amazingly put! Thank you so so much!