Guest Post Written By:  Rogill L. Anderson

Preface:  This is not an affiliate, but rather a story that touched my heart from another teacher and parent.  I believe this is an issue we all need to think about.  Please feel free to share your comments and to contact Rogill directly at: cluter1@charter.net.

As good teachers and parents, we are driven to help our students and our children succeed, achieve inner strength, develop confidence, and find their bliss. When a child has a disability, both educator and parental roles to achieve those things seem even more urgent and awesome. My son was born with spina bifida, and as he was growing up, I saw a blissful, contented child become unsure and self-doubting; not because of his disability, but because of the negative reactions he endured from his peers and the limitations others placed upon him. School was a place of academic success for him, but it was also a place of peer ridicule, exclusion, and great emotional struggle.

I wrote Who Will Hold the Lemonade? to bring Inclusion to light. Special children can be included in childhood musings with a little creativity and compassion. When we bring children together and embrace diversity of circumstance, we can begin a journey of possibilities rather than charting a direct and fixed path of limitation and ridicule. Inclusion becomes the goal and the seeds for exclusion and the potential for bullying and ridicule are replaced with the growth of character and kindness.

 
Who Will Hold the Lemonade? Written by Rogill L. Anderson

Who Will Hold the Lemonade? is a sweet story that addresses life’s bitter realities. It is a story that brings to light the need for tolerance, acceptance, and understanding regarding special children. All children need to find their place of acceptance – a place in which they find their own value and purpose and grow, confidently, into self-assured and self-accepting individuals. Special children sometimes have a harder time finding their place because they are often shunned and excluded by their peers and their struggle to find themselves is mired in self-doubt and sadness. This book is for anyone who wants to make a difference in the life of a special child, or any child. It teaches a valuable lesson in the sweet and far-reaching effects of kindness in sharp contrast to the bitter reality of exclusion…one pitcher of lemonade at a time.

“There are many children with disabilities who long for the friendship of their peers, but their peers seem to be oblivious to their existence. Who Will Hold the Lemonade is a beautiful book about a child suffering from spina bifida. Without pressure or guilt trips, it will open the minds of the young reader to those less mobile or fortunate who nevertheless want their friendship and can be good friends in return. This is an excellent tool to help elementary school children develop understanding and compassion for others.” – Izzy Kalman, Nationally Certified School Psychologist, author of Bullies to Buddies: How to turn your enemies into friends.

Order from:
Steuben Press

4901 E. Dry Creek Rd. Centennial CO  80122
303-482-2060     Also Available on Amazon

Also available:
Educator Professional Development/Enrichment

“Hands-On” workshop to use with students.

Contact: cluter1@charter.net