Sunday 25 November 2012

Encouragement

Making train noises


What a beautiful piece of encouragement I received today! A lovely young Mum I met at playgroup, about a year ago, sent me the following message today. I asked her if I could publish it here on my blog as an encouragement to other parents of children with Down Syndrome. Our kids really are changing people's perceptions, one smile at a time. I have removed her son's name for privacy reasons.


"I look through all your photos and blogs of Felix and I am truly amazed at what an amazing little guy he is! before I met you guys I thought
1- people who have Down syndrome are always chubby!
2- they are aggressive
3- they don't learn the same
4- they don't fit into society.

how WRONG am I!!!!
I'm ashamed now to think i thought this, but it's like the saying "people fear the unknown" and this was me!
Felix (as I'm sure all do!) throws this out the window! He is so happy (yes I know not all the time, but who is?!) he isn't chubby ('My son' is wayyyy bigger lol)
He is so clever! He may not be talking much, but look at his signing! How he knows nursery rhymes, etc!
And he DEFINITELY fits into society!!
what a beautiful and brilliant child you have, and I'm so lucky to have met you guys and to throw all my misconceptions out the door!"




Doing some puzzles


I feel so encouraged to know that people, who don't have children with Down Syndrome, are willing to learn and educate themselves, and have embraced Felix as one of their own. It means so much to me, and I would like to say a huge thank you to all of you who have asked questions, played with Felix and included him. I am constantly blown away by your willingness to change your perceptions about people with Down Syndrome. Thank you for loving our little boy and for seeing beyond the diagnosis of 'Down Syndrome'. Thank you also for celebrating his little milestones with me and my family!

The last few days, we have been focussing on manners, with Felix. We are asking him to sign 'please' and 'thank you'. Several times today he has signed, 'help please' instead of just 'help', so he's catching on really fast. Yesterday he was a bit grumpy and was grunting at me because he wanted me to pass his cup. I asked him to sign 'please', but he shook his head 'No'. I kept asking him to sign 'please' and he kept shaking his head. Eventually he gave me a big smile and signed 'please'. Such a cheeky boy sometimes.

Putting his photo on the board
Felix spent the morning at Special Needs Playgroup this morning. He enjoyed playing with the train set and doing some puzzles. As usual, he loved the singing and putting his photo up on the board after the 'welcome song'. He put his photo up crooked initially, so he stood there and turned it around until it was perfectly straight and then waited for everyone to clap because he was so clever. When it was time to leave, he gave his teacher and the Mum and sister of another little boy, a kiss. Talk about being charming!

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