ABSTRACT
Mary, the mother of Derrick, a 6-year-old boy, was surprised when her son asked her what “AIDS” meant. Mary recalled reading that the best fi rst step to take when a child asks an unexpected question is to ask what the child thinks the word or phrase means. “Th at’s a good question, and I’m glad you asked me. What do you know about what ‘AIDS’ is, Derrick?” Mary asked, carefully monitoring the tone of her voice and her body language. Derrick replied that he did not know; he thought it was something bad because his classmates were kidding his friend, who was mad about being told by other kids that he had AIDS. Mary used the opportunity to talk with Derrick about AIDS, noting it was a disease that aff ected adults, but not many children.
