Thankful for education oppotunities

I am so thankful for the chance to educate people about disabilities, especially Down syndrome.

I got this message from a friend yesterday on Facebook:

ok i'm prolly gonna sound ignorant here and i don't want to offend or upset you, but i'm just wondering something.
first off Ive tried not to use the word "retarded" anymore since seeing all your posts and how hurtful it can be to people.
but i'm wondering what word is acceptable to use that will not offend someone who has a child with downs or any Handicap(?) for that matter?
if we are in a store and one of my children asks, whats wrong with him/her? because they are curious and don't understand what do i say? handicap? special needs?
i'm just trying to educate myself so i don't offend or hurt anyone's feelings and so that i can help my children know without teaching them something that would do the same.

Here is my reply to my friend:

I ♥ that you care enough to ask and educate yourself and that proves there is no ignorance there.

Now, if you see someone out and about with any type of disability and they ask a question or you notice them staring (which is normal for children to do). I would reassure them that the person is just like us but they have a disability and explain they may need more help doing things than they do. For instance, someon3 using a wheelchair needs the chair to "walk" without the use of their legs. Some one with Down syndrome may look a bit different and frighten them just explain that God makes us all unique and their uniqueness is Down syndrome. If they ask what that is, the way we explain it at home is that Down syndrome makes Joseph grow slower and learn a bit differently than we do. The older kids are just now learning why he has Down syndrome (he has 47 chromosomes and we have just 46). Now, since we have Joshua in the family (and he is bi-racial) we tell him that just because we are white and he is black (he identifies himself that way) we are still related and family. This is no different for Joseph, we may only 46 chromosomes and he has 47 but we are still related and we are still family.

Kids really don't need to know much, except this: Disabilities are PERFECTLY natural. They happen everyday in our world and there is nothing "wrong" with a person with a disability. I don't care for the word handicapped but many people don't mind it. I just don't see Joseph as handicapped, he has a cognitive disability and developmental disabilities. He is fully capable, society handicaps him. Special needs is fine too, I use that term myself; but in the grand scheme of things we all have special needs. :)

You are doing your children a great service by instilling acceptance in them. You make me proud to call you my friend.

♥♥♥