If I had a baton, I’d pass it to Paul Doney.
For nearly sixteen years I’ve been banging my shoe on the table about expectations. My earliest experiences with experts (and, well, with anyone) was that they expected my daughter to be low functioning, and they really didn’t want to be bothered with doing anything about this. I was “in denial.” Well, how was Mary supposed to ever learn anything if no one bothered to teach her?
I wrote, “I am convinced that the biggest handicap Down syndrome children have is the low expectations of their parents.”
Today the world of Down Syndrome is changing. That crazy idea that our kids can actually learn, and can actually be treated, is creeping into the mainstream. It’s not so crazy anymore to have high expectations for your child with DS.
Meet Xervier Doney. Xervier has Down Syndrome.
Have you ever seen such a darling baby? Or one so smart?
Before Mary was born, I read a comment from a parent in Oregon about her DS daughter. This parent was using an NACD neurodevelopmental program to homeschool. She said, “No one really knows just what these kids can learn.” That comment haunted me after Mary’s birth. Who really knew?
The comment is more true today than ever. There are a number of promising treatments of Down syndrome today, so that the parent’s difficulty is navigating the waters to understand and choose among them.
And expectations? Reach for the stars. Who knows just what your child can learn.
Paul Doney, the future is yours.
Filed under: Academics, Positive attitude | Tagged: Down Syndrome, reading, sign language
