To say well done to my super nephew...

[Theglassishalffull]

My 10year old nephew had new splints fitted. The man who fit them was not his normal one, so when he came to fit them my nephew said to him"I think that they need to be cut more."
To which the fitter replied "Well I have had 24 years experience doing this so I do know what I am doing."
My nephew then turned to him and said " Well I have had 10 years experience at being disabled so I know what I am talking about.
I thought that was brilliant.

Brilliant! Can you hire him out for training sessions? This is the kind of thing my dd needs to learn.

Bravo!

This has just given me a warm glowey feeling. Well done to the little man!! I'm proud of him and don't even know him!

Good lad! I like the sound of him.

Fantastic, well done that boy. Be very proud of him

Being disabled isn't license to behave like an asshole.

What a little star!

Sun are you actually joking? He is ten years old and sticking up for himself!!

What a fantastic little guy! Well done to him!

Sunscorch. He was assertive. He retorted back to the man who had attempted to override his opinions

I see nothing inappropriate about what he said.

Well done him! Hope it sets him on the right path, I would find it v hard to say that & I'm 36!

I see nothing wrong in what the little boy said. He would know how his splints are meant to feel, I think the guy should've been more receptive to listening to him in the first place. Good on your nephew for stating his case.

Surely it depends on whether the splints did need more cutting or not...

Well I don't think he was, they didn't feel right to him so he stuck up for himself I am proud as I see it as assertive.

sorry to say it sounds quite precocious and rude to speak to an adult like that

"Well I have had 24 years experience doing this so I do know what I am doing."

This sounds rude to me. It sounds like an adult dismissing a child without good reason. If he had asked the child to explain why he felt they needed cutting then maybe the child's response would've been rude. I wouldn't want to wear splints that I felt didn't fit properly and the only person who can truly know how the splints feel is the person they were made for.

No, the fitter dismissed his opinion and he stuck up for himself. So long as his tone was reasonably pleasant he wasn't remotely impolite; good on him .

I don't think it sounds rude. The boy is ten. If I were the fitter, I would be really chuffed that this boy is getting a good sense of how to argue for himself. Of course, he may be wrong: ten year olds probably are wrong about themselves more often than adults. That's because it's part of growing up to learn how to speak up for yourself when you're right, and to bow to experience when you're not.

It seems to me that, even if he was factually wrong (which may well not be the case), it is great to hear he felt able to say this because it is a normal part of growing up, and I do think disability can be used to infantilize sometimes.

But then, I like cheeky children and think it is very healthy!

So as an adult it would be ok to say something if yoy are not happy but as a child it isn't?

I forgot, children must be seen and not heard, even when it involves them possibly being in pain

Put it another way. Would you buy a pair of ill fitting shoes because the person selling them had x number of years fitting them?

No? You'd explain they didn't fit or feel right and your not happy or going to purchase them.

Just because these splints are provided by the NHS as a service does not mean you should accept ones that are ill fitted.

Glass I work in a special school and we have non ambulent and non vocal children who get given splints which cause sores. We and their parents fight hard to get them re fitted. I'm pleased your nephew could say it himself. Why should he wear them if they are not right for him?

I think the man fitting the splints could have listened to your nephew.
The man fitting the splints was being rude.
But your nephew was being rude back.

Two wrongs don't make a right, yes he was sticking up for himself but it might have been more impressive if he had made the point in a slightly more polite manner (which would also have been more of a 'lesson' to the rude splint fitter)

I really do not see how this is rude!

Come on ... surely you would see it as quite natural and nice that he responded using the man's language back at him? As adults we might say it is is rude because we have decided that being a professional fitter for ten years is more experience than being disabled for ten years (questionable, TBH). But a ten year old might not think like that, surely? Unless it's very clear he was being snide, my assumption would be he thought he was establishing equal terms with the person he was talking to. No?