Beyond Awareness

October is my favorite month of the year for many reasons; Halloween, pumpkin flavored everything, football, apples and cider, a chill in the air, turning leaves, hay rides, scary movies, footie pj’s, and tights. So here it is, October 1^st, and I’m enduring an internal debate. I’m exhausting myself (as per usual).

This month highlights awareness campaigns for Down syndrome (DS), domestic violence (DV), & breast cancer. These 3 are big in my world and 2 of them have had great success in making us aware. Thanks to recent news surrounding the NFL, DV is finally starting to get the attention needed for real change. I pray the world doesn’t get bored and move on.

As I think about how I want to honor DS I can’t stop wondering, “what is normal?” What does it mean to be low or high functioning? What does a typical family or typical existence look like and how is that so different from my own? Disability is normal. It is a part of the human experience whether it happens prior to birth or later. Whether it is 'cured' or managed.

Everyone has challenges. Everyone. Sometimes they are financial. Marriages fall apart. Families are blended. Single parents do the work of a village. People lose jobs or get diseases. Those living with mental illness are stigmatized and are failed by a broken system. Our LGBT community still fights for fairness within the law and for the right to walk down the street without being brutally assaulted or shunned by our families. Addictions and sexual assault are commonplace. Sometimes through accidents or illnesses our loved ones pass away too soon all the while we continue to get older every day. Which of these are abnormal?

Awareness campaigns come from a wonderful place. When you are aware that early detection can increase your chances of surviving breast cancer, you’re more likely to feel your boobs and see your doctor. When as a society we begin to hold abusers and sexual assaulters accountable for their actions, survivors will be more likely to seek help and hopefully violence will lessen. When we tell you that language has power, those with compassion choose words that don’t demean. The invisibility of Autism dissolves as others comprehend public meltdowns.  As we continue to demand equality, our kids with special needs will receive the supports and services they need to thrive in school and in the community throughout their lives.

Those of us involved with Down syndrome awareness open our lives to the world. We let you into our private spaces to witness the gold, the shit, and the mundane so that we are no longer outliers, invisible pariahs and therefore irrelevant or scary. We strive to create a society where normal means acceptance, inclusion, equality. In doing so we support others facing similar challenges. We aim to make the world a safer place and I know we have.

And yet I’m restless. I’m beyond awareness. I want revolution and I want normalcy. My life’s work is to battle loud and fierce regarding; housing and program wait lists, budget cuts for education, supports, and services, funding and access to disease cures, legalizing medication that is long overdue, rights for all regardless of ethnicity, genitalia, religion, or who we love. I dream of a time when all of us are normal, where knowledge and understanding are so commonplace that what currently makes us outsiders will be nothing more than attributes to describe our existence to one another.

Independence Day

We decided to take this year off from hosting our annual Garrett Hill parade watching party.  We just weren’t up to the work involved in party prep.  Rolling out of bed late, I grabbed a quick shower and had my coffee on the front porch just as the parade began.  Some friends joined us and we filled the neighborhood with bubbles from our Gazillion bubbles Hurricane machine (Sophie approved).  Gazillion bubbles are truly the best, hands down.

Our neighborhood celebrated our 65th annual 4th of July parade and festivities.  We have an honest to goodness parade that happens to pass directly in front of our house.  Afterwards, the neighborhood park is abuzz with face painting, a dunk tank, a live show (magic in years past, a master juggler this year), bounce houses, a mini-train, spin art, hot dogs, pretzels, and drinks – all FREE!

I scooted Alexander over to our friend’s house as they were having their annual party that we are never able to attend due to hosting our own.  Their back yard bumps up against the park and gives them front row access (or back row as it were) to the live show.  Helena went off to the park with other neighborhood friends.  Mark and I strolled down with Soph at our leisure.

Typically we still have guests at this time and miss out on the activities in the park.  Typically it’s heat stroke hot, but due to some gentle rain before and after the parade and Hurricane Arthur it was perfect.  We were able to hang out with friends at their party and help ourselves to their food, which was a fantastic treat!  Although we missed our usual guests, this was great.

At most houses in our neighborhood, the sounds of parties and smell of BBQs filled the air.  After a lazy afternoon sipping wine, napping, and watching the Walking Dead marathon, we headed out for our township’s fireworks.  Again, we haven’t caught them in our 4 years of living here as we are all typically worn out by the party and heat and head to bed early.  It’s only a 10 minute drive, the entry fee goes towards our high school scholarship fund, and we met up with our friends who had terrific seats on the soccer field.  Grand!

None of the kids got scared and traffic home was a breeze.  I love this community.  This is home.  I’d like to thank our military for continuing to protect our freedom which allows us to celebrate in this way.  It is in their honor that I created this slideshow which I think captures a nice slice of what they work to protect.  Happy Independence Day!

Watch larger: 4th of July 2014

Last Day of School 2014

Yea, though I battle through the valley of the shadow of IEP season, I shall fear not using the Procedural Safeguards: for the law art with me.

With a brutal winter and a ton of snow days, our school year ended even later than it typically does.  It is with great joy that we have entered SUMMER. 

This IEP season for both kids has been the most difficult to date.  Countless IEP meetings in person, via email and by phone could not resolve differences in opinion between our family and our district.  Hiring a great attorney changed all that and with her help we are finally moving forward in a way we can support.

I’m not litigious and pride myself with my negotiation skills, so it is no small thing that we are ending this school year and entering ESY for summer with 2 settlement agreements.  I did not want to have it go to this level, but our core belief in inclusion, FAPE, and LRE just didn’t line up with our district’s plan for educating our 2 kids with IEPs. 

Despite our disagreements I continue to believe we have a fantastic team of teachers and therapists who believe in our kids.  When you have as many team members as we do, you have to get creative in order to be thrifty with thank-you gifts.  I ordered these extra large soup mugs in November intending to use them as holiday gifts, but then I had spinal surgery and they sat in boxes.  I’m pretty happy with how they turned out.  Mark helped me package them in cellophane and ribbons and dropped them off.

In any case, I’ve learned so much through advocating for our kids and I am more determined than ever to make systems change.  I’ll just need a little time to recover.

Welcome to SUMMER - rising 4th grade boy and 2nd grade girl!

Gratitude

Yesterday Sophie went to her friend E’s “Birthday Party in Paris!”  I think the scarf and blue stripes fit the theme quite well.  Soph actually kept the scarf on the whole time.  E’s house was decorated in bubble gum pink, Eiffel towers and pink poodles.  So cute!

I brought a bag with an extra pull-up, wipes, and a straw/lidded cup. I pulled the birthday girl’s mom aside and for the first time ever (and Soph has been to a LOT of birthday parties) I truly did not feel apprehension.  I made sure she knew to use the cup to avoid a spill.  I showed her the pull-up and wipes and made sure she was comfortable helping Soph should the need arise.  She is pretty independent in the potty, but has a regular need for a change if we don’t initiate a bathroom break.   

AND THEN I LEFT! Mark and I had a babysitter coming over and I needed to get ready.  I actually RAN out the door. 

It wasn’t that the dozen girls swarmed Sophie when she arrived as if they hadn’t seen her in ages (it was 1 hour after school got out).  It wasn’t that the birthday girl’s brother exclaimed how much everyone really likes my daughter. 

silly faces!

It was the quiet arrangements and understanding from the birthday girl’s mom that have me on.the.floor. 

She knew Sophie has to be closely watched or she is likely to run off and she’s fast.  As keeping a dozen 6-7 year old girls entertained is difficult enough on it’s own, being far into her pregnancy meant that she knew she needed reinforcements.  So, she got them.  She had a wonderful young lady there who as far as I could tell was the official Sophie Minder.  Now, Soph’s peers do a great job refocusing her, but she can be stubborn.  This helper was fantastic.

spinning girls!

The mom didn’t blink at the idea that Soph came with an extra pull-up or lidded cup.  She didn’t have a look of anxiety on her face when I told them to have fun and headed for the door.  She was unconcerned and ready.

I’ll say it again.  I dropped Sophie off at her friend’s birthday party without a trace of anxiety, knowing she was in loving hands with people who accept her as she is.  The adult in this scenario made arrangements ON HER OWN to be able to make this happen.  It couldn’t have felt more natural.

THIS is why we believe in inclusion.  It’s not about academics alone.  It’s about building a community where everyone belongs AS THEY ARE inside and outside of school!  Sophie's friends have embraced her for as long as I can remember, but folks, she's got multiple generations on her side and it is AMAZING!

Township 4th Annual Eggstravaganza

Reason #437 why we belong here: