Senor
Essay Preview: Senor
Report this essay
Find. Save. Share.
Advanced Search
IN
FindArticles > Health & Fitness > Psychology Today > July-August, 2002 > Article
Content provided in partnership with
Thomson / Gale
Find Results in Articles,
Shared Pages, Web & more
click to view
Find in
looksmart_button
Find Related Searches
click to hide
Journalists / Interviews
Developmental disabilities / Social aspects
Whats Wrong with Timmy? (Book) / Authorship
Find Featured Titles for
Health & Fitness
click to hide
AAACN Viewpoint
ABNF Journal, The
AIDS Treatment News
AMAA Journal
Aboriginal Nurse, The
Adolescence
Adolescent Psychiatry
Advances in Skin & Wound Care
Age and Ageing
Alabama Nurse
Alberta RN
Alcohol Research & Health
Alternative Medicine Review
American Annals of the Deaf
American Family Physician
American Fitness
American Journal of Audiology
Mens Fitness
Psychology Today
Shape
View all titles in this topic »
Find Magazines by Topic
Arts & Entertainment
Automotive
Business & Finance
Computers & Technology
Health & Fitness
Home & Garden
News & Society
Reference & Education
Sports
Do you love the great outdoors?
Visit
LookSmart
Recreation
In her own words: a chat with editor-in-chief Robert Epstein – Cover Story – Maria Shriver discusses her three books, in particular her latest, Whats Wrong with Timmy? – Interview
Psychology Today, July-August, 2002 by Robert Epstein
Save a personal copy of this article and quickly find it again with Furl.net. Its free! Save it.
Robert Epstein: Whats Wrong With Timmy? is an unusual book, as are all three of your books.
Maria Shriver: This book is somewhat of a sequel to one I wrote a few years ago called Whats Heaven? That book tells the story of a little girl asking questions about her great-grandmothers death. Parents still come up to me, saying it had a profound effect on their lives and the lives of their children. Since then, parents have asked me to write books about other issues.
I have spent my life around people with developmental disabilities and the Special Olympics, and my own children have asked me the question, “Whats wrong with that kid?” So I thought that this would be a good subject to broach. This is a way of getting parents and their kids into discussion.
What do you think of the movies “Forrest Gump” and “I Am Sam?”
I love them. Particularly “I Am Sam,” which shows a person with a developmental disability holding down a job and offering the same kind of love and parenting that all of us strive to give our own children. Both films are very moving and helpful in terms of understanding and breaking down stereotypes.
When I was reading your book, a very old memory popped into my head: I was friends with a young man, Willy, who was developmentally disabled. He wasnt in school, and he lived with his parents. My mom was uneasy about my friendship with him. But he taught me how to make a parachute with Saran Wrap and how to repair bicycles. He was a great friend.
Continue article
Advertisement
You should share this with your own children, because I think children are very interested in their parents stories and how they deal with issues. Thats why, in my book, I had Kate asking her mother, “So you had the same experience? You also were scared and tongue-tied?” Kids feel safer when they recognize that their parents have had similar experiences.
Absolutely. And theres a long process involved in destigmatizing any disability.
Or any kind of difference. This book came out three weeks after September 11. I feel strongly about using it as a teaching tool about accepting differences, whether its a disability, religion, skin color or gender. I am talking about tolerance and acceptance and inclusion. These are important issues to discuss with kids. More and more, we are seeing articles about mean girls, exclusion and bullying.
When we talk about the developmentally disabled in the mainstream, arent we talking about the exceptional ones? The ones who are very high functioning?
No. About 90 percent of people with developmental disabilities can be full members of society. That means they can go to school, hold down a job, have friends and get married. We have a slogan at Special