Most cringe-worthy thing someone has said to or about your child?

[Anonymous]

At my daughter's well checkup the dr asked "has her face always been asymmetrical?"

[Anonymous]

After I shared my DS had ADHD, my neighbor said she never worried about her DD having ADHD because her DD was 'smart' - as in my DS must not be.....whatever.

[Anonymous]

Things I never forgot

My "friend" was helping me lift my three year old into the swing ( I had a newborn) and she said "wow, she's a bit chunky" Funny thing is my DD never was and isn't and she and her daughter are to this day. I was so annoyed.

Another "friend" started calling my daughter "mumbly" because she mumbled during her first movement class. She was three or four and we didn't know she had ASD at the time. Her two children told her that "Sarah mumbled when the teacher talked to her" The first time she did it I was so shocked because she thought it would be a cute nickname. My DD was very embarrassed and after the second time I asked her to stop calling her that. Can you imagine an adult doing this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At my daughter's well checkup the dr asked "has her face always been asymmetrical?"

Can't an assymetrical face can be a sign of other problems? This is the kind of question coming from an observant doctor would not bother me. However, coming from a stranger...

[Anonymous]

DS is 3 and combo ASD/fragile x. He is headed to preschool next year, with a full time IEP.

The other day stepsister said that it's great he's going to school next year- so they can 'fix' him before kids start being mean to sped kids.

I told her that's an usual way to look at things- because hes not broken.

[Anonymous]

When DS was around 3 years old we went to a play date with a family who had a son the same age. They also had an infant at the time and DS is an only child. DS was cranky that day because he hadn't napped and their son took a toy from DS's hands and DS started crying. The mom of the other boy said "see, that's why you need to have another kid--so your DS doesn't end up a wuss."

We live in the same neighborhood as the other family and kept running in to them. Every time we saw them the mom would say something like "oh, it's good to see that he's toughening up. Maybe he'll be ready to play with (their DS) again soon."

[Anonymous]

After my son was diagnosed with ASD, my mother reassured me that she would love him even though he's retarded. WTF mom.

[Anonymous]

When DS was 6 months old he had pretty bad eczema on his face. While shopping at CVS one day a woman took one look at him and said "That is one nasty looking baby!"

When he was around 16 months or so, I took him to the local library to pick up some books and just to play around, he couldn't walk at the time, or crawl that well, just laid there really. There was another kid there, probably around 2.5, who was trying to play with my son, and when he wouldn't get up to follow the other boy his mom said, "Oh he can't walk, his mom probably isn't teaching him" I coldly explained that it had nothing to do with me teaching him and that he wasn't physically capable of walking. She stammered some stuff and eventually left.

The most recent thing, which is ongoing sadly, is when we're at the park, my son, who is nearing 3 now, badly wants to play with the kids he sees there, and usually he does but there's always one or two moms who see that he can't talk, flaps his hands around and sometimes yells out in excitement and they will pull their kids away and say something like, "oh don't play with him, he doesn't play right, he's making weird noises" Breaks my heart every time.

[Anonymous]

One kid told my mild CP child that he was cheating because of the way that he dribbles a ball. DS didn't want to tell the kid about his issue, so they stopped playing together for a while. I felt bad for him, but I told him that he could either tell this kid about CP and explain that he's not cheating or play with someone else because this kid isn't worth it if he isn't understanding.

To the person that was asked about DH/complexion: We have been asked about our kids. I have two boys that look nothing alike, have completely different complexions, and have different hair textures. One looks like me and one looks like DH. I have been asked if they have the same dad and DH has been asked if they have the same mom. People can be so bold and ignorant at the same time.

[Anonymous]

I was helping with an adaptive ski lesson. The resort where we were has the adaptive ski instructors wear different jackets.

The child we were working had hemiplegia, so one leg was significantly weaker. He was using a strap to connect his skis to prevent the weak leg from rotating out, and lead instructor was giving more hands on support than is typical.

Another instructor was working on the same part of the hill with similarly aged kids. As he skied past he pointed to our student and told them "see that thing on his skis. That's for babies. We don't use those in my class."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was helping with an adaptive ski lesson. The resort where we were has the adaptive ski instructors wear different jackets.

The child we were working had hemiplegia, so one leg was significantly weaker. He was using a strap to connect his skis to prevent the weak leg from rotating out, and lead instructor was giving more hands on support than is typical.

Another instructor was working on the same part of the hill with similarly aged kids. As he skied past he pointed to our student and told them "see that thing on his skis. That's for babies. We don't use those in my class."

How horrible! I hope the adaptive ski instructor ripped the other guy new one. That's horrible to say even if it wasn't an adaptive class.

[Anonymous]

Not really cringe-worthy so much as rude and ignorant -

This was a remark regarding my socially immature, but abundantly happy 13 yr old ADHD son when asked about what I was going to be doing with my DS while I was out for a few hours:

"....oh, you mean you leave him home alone...?" and she had "judge-y eyes" when she said it....Real Housewives of OC fans will get that reference.

Really? he's not a danger to himself. He's merely socially immature and still has a pretty innocent way of looking at life. He's not going to open the door and run out into the street, or burn the house down, or invite friends over for a kegger.

[Anonymous]

I had a white man offer me a considerable sum to reproduce with him. I was taking my then three-month-old son for a stroll when the man approached me. He was a well dressed businessman on his lunch break. He was perfectly nice at first, cooing over my son, which I found unusually sweet for a man. We made small talk about our professions and what maternity leave was like for me and his nieces and nephews etc.

After a couple of minutes of conversation, he asked if my son is mixed race, which he is (I am African, DH is Jewish), and then asked how old my son is. He remarked my son was a very "attractive" and "well formed" baby, and that I had maintained my figure very well. And then he made the offer, saying he believes in hybrid vigor and that, my genes mixed with his would produce a truly superior baby.

Mind you, this was an attractive and apparently cultured man who could presumably find a woman, and I was wearing my wedding ring. In what world would a married professional woman want to act as surrogate?

I got up and walked away, taking the long way home and looking over my shoulder several times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had a white man offer me a considerable sum to reproduce with him. I was taking my then three-month-old son for a stroll when the man approached me. He was a well dressed businessman on his lunch break. He was perfectly nice at first, cooing over my son, which I found unusually sweet for a man. We made small talk about our professions and what maternity leave was like for me and his nieces and nephews etc.

After a couple of minutes of conversation, he asked if my son is mixed race, which he is (I am African, DH is Jewish), and then asked how old my son is. He remarked my son was a very "attractive" and "well formed" baby, and that I had maintained my figure very well. And then he made the offer, saying he believes in hybrid vigor and that, my genes mixed with his would produce a truly superior baby.

Mind you, this was an attractive and apparently cultured man who could presumably find a woman, and I was wearing my wedding ring. In what world would a married professional woman want to act as surrogate?

I got up and walked away, taking the long way home and looking over my shoulder several times.

Just pointing out that Jewish is not a race.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When DS was 6 months old he had pretty bad eczema on his face. While shopping at CVS one day a woman took one look at him and said "That is one nasty looking baby!"

When he was around 16 months or so, I took him to the local library to pick up some books and just to play around, he couldn't walk at the time, or crawl that well, just laid there really. There was another kid there, probably around 2.5, who was trying to play with my son, and when he wouldn't get up to follow the other boy his mom said, "Oh he can't walk, his mom probably isn't teaching him" I coldly explained that it had nothing to do with me teaching him and that he wasn't physically capable of walking. She stammered some stuff and eventually left.

The most recent thing, which is ongoing sadly, is when we're at the park, my son, who is nearing 3 now, badly wants to play with the kids he sees there, and usually he does but there's always one or two moms who see that he can't talk, flaps his hands around and sometimes yells out in excitement and they will pull their kids away and say something like, "oh don't play with him, he doesn't play right, he's making weird noises" Breaks my heart every time.

Your boy is autistic