Volunteering in the Zoo

A friend asked us to join her to be a volunteer to bring some special needs children to the zoo. The youngest is around 8, majority are above 13. Their conditions vary widely in severity ranging from Down Syndrome to mild autism.

The two children assigned to us seem very normal from their physical appearance. They can function independently on their own; can eat, can talk, can walk and run. But after spending the day with them in the zoo, we know they also have their own deficiencies.  One seems to have memory retention issue - she forget Dez's name more than once. She will repeat the same story many times, forgetting that she had already told us. The other will seem extremely rude to someone who has just known her. She will interrupt a conversation and say her own things, ignoring the other kid. She is also very demanding and physical in her play; she kept punching Dez in his tummy and do all kinds of pushing and shoving. The two lack patience and cannot seem to wait.

They look normal (from their looks) yet they will probably have great difficulties fitting into society. Their family also will feel the stress of caring for these kids as society will not understand and will put labels on them. I can so imagine relatives or passer-bys saying insensitive remarks like "Why is your child's memory so bad?", "Why is your child so stupid?", "Why is your child so rude? No manners."

I also cannot imagine how these children are feeling about themselves. Their self-esteem may be affected. How can we help these children?  The society in general must become more gracious, tolerant, empathetic and sensitive towards people who are different. But I don't know what I can do to spark the change in our society...