Children With Disabilities and Making Mistakes

Many parents are guility of one stereotype directed at their Children with Disabilities – they are overprotective.  I’ve seen it in my own life, Kate’s life and the various friends I have with Disabilties.  Parents don’t realise how them being overprotective is in fact harmful to their children’s development.  The number one way people learn, yes including those with disabilities is by making mistakes.  If people are not allowed to make mistakes they will never learn.  Parents of children with disabilities often protect their children from being able to make mistakes, thus they never learn.  Yes making mistakes sucks, but I wish this stereotype that people with disabilities should be over protected and not be allowed to make mistakes should end – NOW!

I firmly believe that many adults placed in restrive settings such as adult foster care are because of overprotective parents that never allowed their children to make mistakes.  Yes watching loved ones make mistakes is a hard thing to do, but sometimes you need to do it, and be there for them to pick up the pieces after its through.  I’m not calling parents of children with disabilities horrible for protecting their children, its a human instinct to protect someone you care about a lot – but its also vital that children with disabilities learn to fend for themselves as much as possible – your not always going to be there for them.