what should i do?

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Grey_Eventer

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sorry to post in the wrong place, but soapbox doesnt seem to have much traffic and i thought/hopee you loverly lot can help me

ok basically, my parents are going to france next week, and have now decided they dont want me !!! LOL. which is fine as im staying at a friends house.
they are having their counsins to stay and one of them is mentally disabled and is VERY unpredictable. i have never met this child so dont really know the ins and outs of it all... but does anyone know what a) i should expect so im not overwhelmed...i havent really met many disabled people, obviously here and there but only for short periods of time. b) how should i act around him? should i treat him as everyone else or should i be a bit more careful etc.. and if so what should i do to be more careful/aware.
i know this sounds really stupid and naive etc. but tbh i dont really know how to act around disabled people as its always that really difficult thing, do you treat them differently or treat them the same?
obviously the mum will be there, but she doesnt get much time off from looking after him so she would obviously like to sit by the pool for a couple of hours and chat to people, which is when me and my friend will look after him.
also if he does blow up for some reason what should i do?

sorry for so many naive/ignorant/stupid Qs...i just dont want to do something worng and then him/someone get upset.
 
To be honest, I think the fact that you're concerned about it enough to ask questions means you'll be fine.
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It's really hard to say what he'll be like, anymore than with anyone else. You'll just have to wait and see. Could you ask your friend what to expect, or perhaps one of his/her parents? I suspect if you're actually going to be looking out for him his Mum will tell you what he can and can't do, just like with any other child. Remember, she has likely has lots of experience with people who don't fully understand her son and has probably heard any question you could think to ask before.

You just have to be compassionate, which it sounds like you already are. No one is expecting you to know all about something you don't have any experience of, they're just expecting you to be normally polite and reasonably responsible. I really don't think you'll be overwhelmed at all, and it will be interesting for you to meet a new and different person.

I once went to stay with a friend from school who "neglected" to mention that her mother was severely disabled. She'd never mentioned it at school, believe it or not, and always talked about her great homelife (of which many of us were jealous). The first I knew of it was literally when they came to pick me up from the bus!! I thought that was very rude, actually, like it was some sort of test for me. But I smiled and said hello like I would have with anyone else's parent, thanked them for having me and it was all good. After all, even if someone is a little different on the outside there's still a person in there, just like anyone else.

You'll be fine. Really.
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It really depends on the degree of the disability. My son has aspergers amongst other learning difficulties but to meet him you would not know there was anything wrong with him at all unless you spent a bit of time in his company when it would become aparant that there were problems. If he has a severe mental disability then he possibly can't communicate with you in a way that you would understand easily but if it is a less severe disability he could come across the same as any other boy of his age does.I am sure that if you speak to his family members they will be pleased to know that you are caring and considerate to his needs and will be able to tell you the do's and don'ts of interacting with him.
 
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