If such words are being uttered on award-winning TV shows, clearly we, as a society, have our work cut out for us. As parents, we can start by making sure that our own children don't grow up with such attitudes. Easier said than done, you're thinking. When your child sees someone of another color or someone in a wheelchair and asks you about them, don't shrink back. We find that when you're straight with kids they simply accept the differences.
People often say that children are cruel.
After the workshop, which the boy's father attended, the boys decided to take turns playing with the autistic child every Shabbat. Merkaz Harmony continued to provide ongoing support. It also runs a company that produces dolls with disabilities and puzzles depicting people with and without disabilities. Miriam Marcus of Akim Jerusalem, which rehabilitates people with mental disabilities, adds that the ideal way to teach children acceptance of people with differences is to expose them to such people. Two of Marcus's children attended the Harmony kindergarten and she says that at 17 and 10, she still sees differences in the way her children see people with disabilities.