This is a personal story of what it is like having a child with Down
Syndrome, by Barbara Thompson of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Sarah
Palin's Down Syndrome baby reminded me of my own child
Sarah Palin
holding her
child with Down Syndrome -
Trig Palin
It was very emotional for
me to watch the Republican National
Convention as Sarah Palin was introduced as Senator John McCain’s
Vice-Presidential
running mate. As they introduced the Palin family my eyes filled with
tears as
the camera zoomed in on little Trig Palin, her new baby with Down
Syndrome,
asleep on his father’s shoulder.
The
reason for such emotion on my part is because it brought
back so many memories of the day I brought my little baby boy, Nathan,
home
from the hospital. He too was diagnosed with Down Syndrome, only back
then
the doctors used the word "mongoloid" to describe Nathan’s condition.
We didn’t
know what the word "mongoloid" meant or what Down Syndrome was or even
what it
meant to be parents for that matter. That was 33 years ago and Nathan
was our
first child.
Challenges having
a child with Down Syndrome
The
joy of having our first baby was soon overshadowed with
the news that our son was not going to be “normal” and would face many
challenges in his life. It was even suggested by our doctor that it
would be
best if we would consider putting Nathan in an institution and not to
try to
care for him at home. My husband and I decided that whatever challenges
this
little boy would have, we were going to take him home and love him and
help him
all we could to reach his full potential as a human being.
Those
first few weeks and months were a roller coaster ride
of emotions for us and me especially. Most dads go to work and have
other
things that occupy their time, but us moms are the ones that face the
challenges day in and day out with our kids. Sometimes I would be able
to go
about my day caring for the needs of Nathan like any mother would do
with a
brand new baby, but at other times I was filled with great sadness and
disappointment and even a little scared of what the future would hold
for us as
a family. During the nine
months you
wait for your child to be born, you dream, plan and envision what your
child’s
life will be like, who they will become, what accomplishments they will
achieve.
It seemed as though all those dreams and hopes had died with Nathan’s
diagnosis.
How
we overcame the challenges of having a child with Down Syndrome
With
the help and support of family and friends we tried to
focus on the positive and being the best parents we could be. One of
the first
things we did was to educate ourselves about Down Syndrome. It is also
referred
to as Trisomy 21 since there is an extra chromosome at the 21st
pair
of chromosomes. We also got involved with parents support groups which
were a
tremendous benefit to us. We drew strength from sharing with others who
had children with Down Syndrome and we also learned what to expect in
the various stages
of our
son’s development.
Down
syndrome 33 years later
Nathan (on
the far right) and
his bowling friends
Click to enlarge
Our
son Nathan is now 33 years old. He hasn’t graduated from
college, owned his own business, traveled the world or accomplished
many of the
things other young men his age have done, but he has far exceeded the
expectations
we were given those 33 years ago. Nathan bowls on several bowling
leagues each
week and has an average score of 120. He plays on Special Olympics
basketball
and track teams and plays baseball during the summer months. He goes to
our
local Junior College, participating in a continuing education class
with other
developmentally disabled adults. He attends summer camps, dances and
other
social and community events. Every year my husband and I take Nathan
and 2 of
his friends to a major league baseball game of their choosing. So,
contrary to
what some people say about the poor quality of life these individuals
must
have, you could never convince Nathan and his friends that they do not
have fun and fulfilling lives.
Nathan
and his friends have taught us some very valuable
lessons in this life like learning to love and accept people
unconditionally,
patience and realizing that individuals with disabilities have feelings
and
emotions just like normal people do. These are just to name a few but
our life
has been blessed in many, many ways by our son Nathan.
This
journey we are on called life can throw a lot of curves
and bumps in the road, but we have found that if we invite God on the
journey
with us, He will smooth over the bumps and steer us around the curves
and help
us become better individuals while traveling down that road.
For
more information about Down Syndrome go to www.ndss.org
for
the National Down Syndrome Society.
Thanks for
reading Barbara's story about having a child with Down Syndrome with Sarah
Palin is Cool!
