Remember when 50 Cent tweeted offensive comments about autism? Ellen over at Love That Max weighs in on the issue, saying that while he has apologized, she can’t help but wonder, “What’s it going to take to ease the prejudice against kids with special needs?”
“It starts with parents helping kids see that every child has unique abilities and challenges, too. It starts with parents helping kids see the ability in the disability.
More inclusion would also help—not just at schools but in sports, rec programs and camps. In our state, there is one day camp that has an inclusionary program for kids with special needs. This is far too important for it to be so rare.
I’d like to see more inclusion in media, too. The majority of shows for kids, sitcom or cartoon, don’t feature children or adults with special needs (excluding Sesame Street). The people who cast actors and models for TV programs, movies, magazines and ads are concerned about having cultural diversity; why not physical and cognitive diversity, too?”
We know you’ve probably seen this viral video of Cookie Monster singing a parody of “Call Me Maybe” called “Share It Maybe,” but we just had to include it in this week’s round-up.
Amy, over at Selfish Mom, recently sat down with Food Network star Melissa d’Arabian, and as Amy said, “I learned so much from Melissa, I’ve had to divide it into two posts!” The first post focuses on getting pick eaters to eat what the rest of the family is eating. Amy outlines Melissa’s seven easy tips to have a good relationship with healthy foods.
“Melissa wants to entice her children to eat healthy foods, to encourage them. She stresses that she does none of it perfectly, but she had some really awesome tips for me. Her overall philosophy is to back up and see the bigger picture of the positive association with food, instead of micromanaging what her girls are actually eating.”
Speaking of picky eaters, check out a recent article we posted on our main site that also has tips on getting kids to eat healthy food and a great recipe for Greenmarket Vegetable Chowder.
Have you ever said something to your child in a heated moment that you immediately regret? Matt, blogger at DadWagon, talks about the time he said “shut up” to his daughter.
“But now, with a single “Shut up!,” I was showing Sasha exactly the wrong thing to do. When we’d made it across the street, I kneeled down, looked her in the face, and apologized. “I shouldn’t have said that, Sasha,” I said. “I’m sorry. Can we be friends again?” Then we had a nice hug and walked the rest of the block to the F-train station, tear-free.”
