Acknowledgements - gapitc

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A Special Friend
Help your child understand disabilities, his own or others, when you look
through a book such as Danny and the Merry-Go-Round by Nan Holcomb.
Danny, who has cerebral palsy, visits the park with his mother and watches other
children playing on a playground. He makes friends with a young girl after his
mother explains cerebral palsy to her and points out that it is not contagious.
With your two year old, do not read the words on every page. Use the book to
point to the pictures, answer your child’s questions, and share simple comments
about Danny and his wheel chair.
Explain that the wheel chair helps Danny move because he cannot use his legs to
walk or run.
Point out the things that Danny has in common with the other children, for example
they all like to go to the park.
Show that Danny has a friend and they can talk and play together.
Tell your child that we are all different and special friends.
Favorite Fruit
Select three different kinds of fruit for snack time such as a banana, an apple, and
a kiwi.
Place one bite-size sample of the first fruit on your child’s napkin and one on
your own napkin.
Invite your child to sample the fruit while you eat yours.
Place another type of fruit on both of your napkins and ask your child which he
likes best.
Tell your child which one you like best.
Invite him to sample the third type of fruit while you eat a piece also.
Ask your child to point to or say which fruit he likes best.
Hold up that fruit and say for example, “You like the kiwi best and I like the apple
best.”
Say to your child, “We chose our favorite fruit—the one we liked the best. It is
okay for everyone to like something different.”