[MissyAmomChina]

Hi Julie,

I think what you experienced could apply to so many situations. People tend to reference what they know from their life and way overgeneralize it. For example, I'm a speech pathologist who works with children with autism. Many times when people learn about what I do, they take their one experience with a person with autism and apply it every indvidual I work with. Back when Rainman was a popular movie, you wouldn't believe the questions I would get.

I had a similiar experience when a childhood neighbor learned we were adopting. They were a-parents who were estranged from their son who was adopted. They had strong negative feelings about adoption and were quick to caution me about what they perceived as the "dangers of adoption." What was incredibly ironic to me was they were also estranged from another son--their biological son.

You will probably run into some other people who will make some overgeneralizations-----maybe positive or negative ones. In any case, I find that there are times when this is a good opportunity to open a discussion. There are also times where I think that there is little I could do or say to change the persons mind.

Take care,