Mom With Albino Kids Wants To Educate People So They Stop Making ‘Rude and Nasty’ Comments

Stacey Chappell/Facebook; Carmelo Lato/Facebook

We like to think that bullying is an issue that only takes place on playgrounds and in school cafeterias. But there are plenty of adults who’ve made a habit out of making fun of each other and in the most tragic cases, young children. Perhaps these people feel powerless in other areas of their lives and feel the need to take it out on younger, more defenseless people.

Whatever the reason, it’s a problem. And one mother with special needs children is sharing her experience in the hopes that adults will think twice about the words they direct at her little ones.

Stacey has three children living with albinism.

Stacey Chappell, a mom living in the UK, shares five children with her husband Jason, the U.S. Sun reported. Three of Stacey’s children were born with albinism. The condition affects the production of melanin, which affects the color of her children’s skin, hair, and eyes. Albinism is also marked by visual impairments.

The parents have to take special precautions to protect their children.

To make living with albinism easier, Stacey’s children must wear SPF 50 sunscreen whenever they go outside. The couple uses blackout curtains in their home because sunlight, even through the window, can cause severe burns. Her children also wear special glasses to help with their vision.

When her first child with albinism was born — 15-year-old Jay — Stacey didn’t know anything about the condition and blamed herself for her child’s suffering.

Stacey says it took some effort for her to learn how to best care for her kids.

Stacey, Jason, and Jay were in and out of the hospital all of the time when he was first born. On top of all that, Stacey also suffered from postpartum depression. But things began to turn around for both Stacey and her family once she began utilizing charity resources.

She says she reached out to Guide Dogs, an organization that helps people with sight loss, and that working with them has made a significant difference in the quality of her children’s lives.

Jay, Stacey's oldest son, lacks confidence because of the nasty things he's heard about himself.

“People will go, ‘Look at his hair, look at his eyelashes' … and I’ll say, ‘Yeah, he’s an albino.’ Then they’ll say, ‘Why do you feel like you’ve got to tell people?’ and I’ll say, ‘Do you know why? Because I’m so privileged; I feel so special having them as my kids.’”

While Stacey feels privileged, Jay suffers from anxiety and “lacks confidence” due to the hurtful comments he’s heard from his peers and even adults. “He is too shy, and because he’s had such bad things happening to him, he thinks everybody is going to be nasty,” Stacey said.

Some adults have even made rude comments to her toddler.

Stacey says her 3-year-old, Leon-James, nearly walked into another shopper at the supermarket. “He did it twice, so I apologised and said, ‘Sorry’ and I didn’t say anything else, and she went, ‘No wonder he can’t see with those stupid glasses on.’”

Stacey recognizes that people are ignorant of the daily challenges her children face, but she hopes that by sharing her family’s story, people will be more open-minded, willing to help, and less quick to make unkind comments.