As of late, there has been a discussion in the blogisphere surrounding the essence of “Therapy”. The question lingers: are we trying to make our children “normal”?
After all, it is completely unnatural to be constantly surrounded by speech therapists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, feeding clinic specialists, doctors, nurses, social workers, aids…the list goes on. At any given time there are any number of people carefully critiquing your child, your parenting and your home life, telling you what you’re doing wrong, where you fall short and what you should do to fix your child’s inabilities. That being said, the further your child is from “normal” the greater your chances of receiving funding for all of the above and so, you make your situation seem as dire as possible in hopes that whoever is submitting your case feels truly sorry for you. As a parent you are caught in a constant paradox of celebrating your child’s victories while acknowledging (at times exaggerating) the areas where your child is not on par with his or her peers.
…that being said, like all things in life, there must be balance.
Perhaps it is unnatural, but isn’t solo parenting unnatural as well? We’ve all heard the phrase “it takes a village to raise a child.” But where are our villages? We live in an isolated world. I’m not saying that our therapists are our village but in a way, they are Ella’s team. They are on her side, they have invested in her and want to see her do well. We (myself included) are not trying to make her “normal” – to us she is normal. We KNOW that individuals with Down Syndrome have potential just like anyone else, sometimes, they just need a little help and a little more time. They can talk, they can walk, they can read, do gymnastics, inspire others – the possibilities are endless.
As I set out to write this post it was my intention to tell you about our “team meeting” but instead, in light of tomorrow being World DownSyndrome Day I want to leave you with this thought: what if “normal” isn’t what we thought it was? And people with Down Syndrome weren’t so “different” after all. What would they be able to accomplish with the opportunities afforded by the right to participate and the right to inclusion? How would they contribute to our societies, our communities and to the world?
Point of Interest: This is the United Nations official resolution on World Down Syndrome Day.
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