and they're kids....

I've never thought that kids can be this understanding and caring. What happened recently got me astonished!

Tota, as his classmates like to call him, has just joined school after staying at home (due to a serious surgery) for three months. Tawfeeq is the twin sister of Aya, my 6 years old pupil in grade 1. Aya is a cute normal girl, while Tota was unlucky enough to be born physically deformed (having MPS* to be exact). The boy is no taller than 60 or 70 cm. He is not allowed to go by any chance to the playground so that the pupils would not stumble by him and cause him any harm.

The way his classmates deal with him is unbelievable. We were worried that they may laugh at him, or hurt his feelings in any way. What surprises us is the concern and the care they show to him. They treat him as a baby, and rush to help him. in brief, he is now the pampered kid of the class.

I remember a time ago seeing grownups laughing at a passerby physically deformed man. That's why these kids impressed me.
and they say they're kids...



*The mucopolysaccharidoses are a group of inherited diseases in which a defective or missing enzyme causes large amounts of complex sugar molecules to accumulate in harmful amounts in the body's cells and tissues. This accumulation causes permanent, progressive cellular damage that affects appearance, physical abilities, organ and system functioning, and, in most cases, mental development. Depending on the type of mucopolysaccharidosis, affected individuals may have normal intellect or may be profoundly retarded, may experience developmental delay, or have severe behavioral problems. Physical symptoms generally include coarse or rough facial features, thick lips, an enlarged mouth and tongue, short stature with a disproportionately short trunk (dwarfism), abnormal bone size or shape (and other skeletal irregularities), thickened skin, enlarged organs such as the liver or spleen, hernias, and excessive body hair growth.