Anyone Else have a LO Who is Drawn to Special People?

[MommaBunny]

Isn't it amazing how young children don't have the barriers that we construct as we get older? My DD is utterly terrified of all strangers EXCEPT people who look different or have disabilities. She starts crying when little old ladies wave at her, but will giggle and smile and wave when she sees a person who is "special".

The other day at the store, there was a man who had some kind of severe deformity. He also seemed to be mentally handicapped and walked very strangely. He started waving at my DD and saying "Hey baby, hey baby" and I thought that she was going to get upset, but she started giggling at him and trying to play peek-a-boo. Then a few minutes later, a young woman in line behind us started trying to talk to her, and DD got really upset.

DD's done this exact same thing with other people, too. There was a woman with burn scars who DD latched onto immediately a few weeks ago, and another woman who was deaf and mentally handicapped who DD also really liked. And she's always bonded strongly with my stepsister, who has congenital muscular dystrophy and is essentially bedridden. The strange thing is that she has terrible stranger anxiety with people who are "normal".

I really hope that my DD continues to be this open-minded and loving toward people who are different. I really admire this feature in her, because I think that when I was a kid, I would have been afraid of people who seemed unusual.

I'm sure she's not the only one, though-- does anyone else have a story to share about their own LO?

[kettle]

I don't know about my son yet... but my brother was and is like this... his goal is to be a doctor (he's 16).

When my brother was about 7 his best friend was the little boy with Down's Syndrome who lived next door. My little brother LOVED this kid, they had so much fun. The little boys parent's actually asked me one day if my brother realized that Johnathon was different. I said he did, he just didn't care.

And he's like this with everyone. KB (my brother) loves to help people. My brother is the popular kid who hangs out with/talks to the special needs kids and, if necessary, fights their battles.

It is pretty awesome! Kids are so amazing aren't they.

My son is afraid of Westerners. Since we live in Korea he doesn't see many non-Koreans... he can be in a crowed of hundreds of Koreans and he's giggling and happy... give him two Westerners and he's hysterically crying.