The children who decided to change it all

Children with disabilities just want to be treated as kids, they don’t need people feeling sorry for them. They want to have friends, to be accepted, to be invited to other kid’s birthdays, to feel included not to be discriminated against. Inclusive education is a great first step and an indispensable tool to achieve this goal. The children who decided to change it all is a book which, more than tolerance, celebrates the acceptance of disabilities, without concessions, ifs or buts.

 

The idea for writing this story was born as a result of my experience as the mother of a beautiful little girl with Down syndrome. And also I accept it- as a result of my frustra- tion when I realized that sometimes, people see and treat her differently. Since she was really young, I began to realize that sometimes, the ignorance and/or lack of sensitivity from some people is what hurts the most, even if they don't mean to do it on purpose, or maliciously. Simply put, what happens is that one usually fears the unknown. 

Children with disabilities just want to be treated as kids, they don't need people feeling sorry for them. They want to have friends, to be accepted, to be invited to other kids' birth- dayk They want to feel included, not to be discriminated against, or to be labeled as "different." Inclusive education is a great first step and an indispensable tool to achieve this goal.

The word tolerance has never suited me, I prefer to speak of ACCEPTANCE. Thus, with capital letters, without concessions, ifs og buts. Tolerance implies "I don't like you, but still I agree to put up with you". Acceptance, on the other hand, involves embracing completely and with the heart.

Author

Marcela Fonseca discovered, at a not so early age, that her passion for writing and transmitting her thoughts and feelings to readers would be the only thing that would keep her afloat, surviving the turbulent waters of pessimism, discouragement and insensitivity.