Educating Our Children on Limb Differences

Since I was a child I noticed the stares, the funny looks, and the questions people asked those around them. As I grew up I heard the sounds of children asking their parents, "Mommy look at her, what happened to her arm?" Or "Mommy why does she look funny?" These questions never bothered me and I would love to educate these children on why I am missing my arm. However, parents often pull their children away and apologize to me for their child's comment.
Parents, please know that your child has not offended me. I am 110% comfortable with my arm and I would be more than happy to educate your child on my difference and others if they have a question. Please do not pull your child away and tell them not to ask that. Our children need to be educated on this. One day they will see someone else like me and they will have no idea. They will teach their children to walk away and they will be left to wonder as well. We need to educate our children on differences. Those who have differences would much rather educate and answer your child's questions so they can learn about it and then next time when they interact or see someone with a difference they will know The answer and maybe even go talk to that individual.
From our point of view:
Yes, sometimes we get annoyed when people come up to us and touch it or ask us a thousand questions and we feel as if we are overwhelmed. However, we are prepared for these moments our entire life. Our parents knew this, so they never tried to step in they allowed us to learn how to react in these situations. We would love to answer your child’s question of why and how we are missing our arm. We are not offended and we understand that this is new to some people. Not every day do you see someone who is missing a limb.
My favorite moments:
I absolutely Love when a child comes up to me on their own and touches my little arm while asking what happened or why I only have one arm. I had a little girl at a dress store come up to me and ask what happened and she felt my little arm and just kept touching it along with telling me how beautiful my dress was. This little girl changed my life because she was so sweet and she genuinely wanted to know what happened. This little girl had no idea the impact she had made on my life that day. She didn't care about my arm, she still thought I was beautiful in my dress. I thought she was beautiful too and I wanted her to know how beautiful she was. This little girl has now planted a footprint on my life forever.
When a child asks, we understand that they have never seen something like this before, and if we let them know what happened they might understand that we are no different than other people, we can still do anything that people with two hands can do. They will not be afraid of people with differences and they might not stare but instead talk to that person and share of their experience from years ago.
Love,
Sarah Stump
#ImperfectlyPerfect