Sooner or later, it will happen that someone will ask or say something about your child who has a disability or special needs which is hurtful, nosy, rude, or truly offensive.
Most times they don’t intend to be offensive or rude, they probably just don’t know how to be tactful or respectful.
Rather 𝐸𝑛𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 yourself and have a response ready for that day. Having that comeback line handy gives a little edge of confidence.
Here are some simple responses or comeback lines that might work in some real-life situations:
𝟭. “𝗘𝘅𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗺𝗲?” It causes the person with the comment to pause and re-think their words.
𝟮. “𝗜’𝗺 𝘀𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱’𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮 𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲.”
𝟯. “𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲.”
𝟰. “𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁?” Force them to think about what they just said.
𝟱. “𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗻.” With a smile.
𝟲. 𝗦𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲. With a smile. And walk away.
𝟳. “𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄?” Sometimes it is necessary to answer a question with a question, especially when you are cornered by a personal question on a delicate topic.
𝟴. “𝗬𝗲𝘀, 𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸. 𝗛𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱.” For just a little guilt trip.
Let’s 𝐸𝑛𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 ourselves and try to prevent people from saying rude things again in the future!
The situation will determine which of these will work for you and which not – please suggest more ideas in the comments below!
