Nov 26 2008
Do People With Down syndrome Suffer?
Yesterday I received an email alert that brought up a discussion of Down syndrome. AskMen.com poses the question, “Would you keep a baby with Down syndrome? Does a person with Down syndrome really suffer in today’s society? Should a test for this disorder even be an option for pregnant women?”
The responders of this debate come from all sides. The one question that struck me hard was “Does a person with Down syndrome really suffer in today’s society?”
My answer is ‘yes’, but not the way most people who do not have a child with Down syndrome or mosaic Down syndrome think.
A person with Down syndrome or mosaic Down syndrome does suffer.
They suffer from ignorance.
Not their own-But the world’s.
They suffer from discrimination.
Not because they can not discriminate the differences between others-But because the world discriminates against them.
They suffer from communication problems.
Not because they can not communicate-But because the world will not listen and communicate with them.
They suffer from misunderstanding.
Not because they don’t understand-But because the world refuses to understand them.
They suffer from learning problems.
Not because they can not learn-But because the world believes they are not teachable.
They suffer from the inability to make friendships.
Not because they are unable to be a friend-But because the world teaches their children to not associate with them.
Do people with Down syndrome suffer? Yes, unfortunately they do. But only because the world sees them as so incredibly different from themselves.
If the world would stop and get to know–really know–someone with Down syndrome, they they would realize that they are no different than anyone else!
Some may talk a little different, but that doesn’t mean they don’t know what they are saying! It just means they have trouble forming the words.
Some may learn a little different, but that doesn’t mean they can not learn! It means that like every single other person in the world, they learn at their own pace.
Some may look a little different, but that doesn’t mean something is “wrong” with them. Even identical twins look a little different from one another.
My son has mosaic Down syndrome.
He is 22 years old.
He likes RPG video games.
He likes YouTube.
He likes horror movies.
He LOVES girls.
He plans to have a family.
He plans to have a career in computer graphics.
He is a great writer and hopes to be published one day.
He wants to travel.
He would love to go to Japan.
He likes hanging out with his friends.
How different is he really to any other 22 year old?
This goes back to my statement years ago that became my Trademark:
The Only Handicap A Person Has Are The People Around Them!
The only thing people with Down syndrome or mosaic Down syndrome suffer from are the people in the world who do not believe they should be here in the first place.
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2 Responses to “Do People With Down syndrome Suffer?”
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Right on, Kristy!
I have to agree, I think that we have come along way but still have a long way to go for our children. My son Jonathan turned 6 on 11/30. When I think back on all of the hurtful comments that people have made regarding him from the moment he was born. One nurse in the hospital refered my son as a they, like they are all so happy! Like they on some kind of euphoric high all time! To a cashire who said to me you have one of those, and I said excuse me? You have a mongaloid baby. To a doctor in the hospital who said he is just like any kid until he grows up. And stares from parents at my kids former school, an in-law who said what did Laura and Brian do? For God to give them a child with Ds, and to my son’s school who sometimes underestimates him because he has apraxia and SID in thinking he is not there yet or he does not understand yet. To a pregnant mom and her friend staring and talking about my son and finally of the many a mom in the pediatrician office pulling their child away from my son like he has somekind of a disease! They don’t relize he is just like them and this is how God wanted him to be! They don’t see how I see him as perfect!And he smart, handsome, funny and loving and a GIFT!