A Guide for NEW PARENTS Resources for new parents of a child with Down syndrome. USOD’S MISSION To provide support, education and advocacy for people with Down syndrome, their families and communities. 2 Dear Parent, Twenty years ago, I was pregnant with my second child. We knew that he was going to be a boy and we had already named him Alex. We were so excited because our family, we thought, would be complete. We already had a three year old daughter and now a boy—how perfect! What we didn’t expect, however, was to be told that our baby had Down syndrome. I remember the shock and sadness those first few days after he was born. I was fearful of what the future would hold for Alex and for our family. As I held him I knew though that he was such a sweet and precious little thing and I loved him dearly no matter what. Well, I cannot even imagine our lives without Alex in them. He has brought so much joy, love, pride and hope into our lives that it is hard to even put into words. When he smiles and laughs, the whole world lights up! He has not only touched our lives, but so many others around him. A big fear that we had when he was born was how this would affect our daughter. I can tell you that it has affected her, but only in a positive way. She is the most patient and compassionate young adult that I have ever known. She is studying to become an Occupational Therapist ans was inspired by her brother to follow this path. I believe that having Alex in her life has been a large part of who she is and who she will become in the future. Alex enjoys the same things that teens his age do including sports, movies, video games, and girls! He attends regular classes at school and has many friends. He has been on the high school swim team and has made great friends over the years. He is an altar server at our church and really enjoys it! Alex has been a joy in our lives and our family would not be complete without him. My hope is that your baby will bring you the same love and joy that we have experienced. Thank you, Laurie Laurie Kowalski New and Expectant Parent Support 6533-B Brecksville Road The Up Side of Downs Independence, OH 44131 p 216.447.USOD (8763) f 877.353.USOD (8763) e [email protected] 1 www.usod.org Congratulations! Congratulations on the birth or expected birth of your baby! We understand that your baby may have Down syndrome. You probably have a million questions, concerns and fears right now. That is OK. The most important thing to keep in mind is that this diagnosis is not as “life changing” as the fact that you have a new baby. And in most ways, your baby will be just like other infants. Every baby needs to be fed, held, and most of all, loved. There will be challenges in raising your child, but there will also be many, many joys. It’s normal to be nervous about what lies ahead, but remember that Down syndrome is a condition your baby has, it is not who your baby is. Now is the time to begin learning all you can about Down syndrome and the local services available to you. This New Parent Guide is a great place to start. 3 Welcome to Hollandby Emily Perl Kingsley I am often asked to describe the experience place, full of pestilence, famine and of raising a child with a disability — to try disease. It’s just a different place. to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to So you must go out and buy new guide imagine how it would feel. It’s like this... books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new When you’re going to have a baby, it’s group of people you would never have met. like planning a fabulous vacation trip — to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and It’s just a different place. It’s slower- make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in after you’ve been there for a while and Venice. You may learn some handy phrases you catch your breath, you look around... in Italian. It’s all very exciting. and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills... and Holland has tulips. Holland After months of eager anticipation, the day even has Rembrandts. finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. But everyone you know is busy coming and The flight attendant comes in and says, going from Italy... and they’re all bragging “Welcome to Holland.” about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will “Holland?!?” you say. “What do you mean say “Yes, that’s where I was supposed to go. Holland?!? I signed up for Italy! I’m supposed That’s what I had planned.” to be in Italy. All my life I’ve dreamed of going to Italy.” And the pain of that will never, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a But there’s been a change in the flight plan. very significant loss. They’ve landed in Holland and there you must stay. But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn’t get to Italy, you may The important thing is that they haven’t never be free to enjoy the very special, the taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy very lovely things... about Holland. 5 You are not alone When Parents Learn that their Child has a Disability By Patricia McGill Smith If you have recently learned that your child is developmentally delayed or has a disability (which may or may not be completely defined), this message may be for you. It is written from the personal perspective of a parent who has shared this experience and all that goes with it. When parents learn about any difficulty or problem in their child’s development, this information comes as a tremendous blow. The day my child was diagnosed as having a disability, I was devastated—and so confused that I recall little else about those first days other than the heartbreak. Another parent described this event as a “black sack” being pulled down over her head, blocking her ability to hear, see, and think in normal ways. Another parent described the trauma as “having a knife stuck” in her heart. Perhaps these descriptions seem a bit dramatic, yet it has been my experience that they may not sufficiently describe the many emotions that flood parents’ minds and hearts when they receive any bad news about their child. Many things can be done to help yourself through this period of trauma. That is what this paper is all about. In order to talk about some of the good things that can happen to alleviate the anxiety, let us first take a look at some of the reactions that occur. 6 Common Reactions On learning that their child may have a disability, most parents react in ways that have been shared by all parents before them who have also been faced with this disappointment and this enormous challenge. One of the first reactions is denial—“This cannot be happening to me, to my child, to our family.” Denial rapidly merges with anger, which may be directed toward the medical personnel who were involved in providing the information about the child’s problem. Anger can also color communication between husband and wife or with grandparents or significant others in the family. Early on, it seems that the anger is so intense that it touches almost anyone, because it is triggered by the feelings of grief and inexplicable loss that one does not know how to explain or deal with. Fear is another immediate response. People often fear the unknown more than they fear the known. Having the complete diagnosis and some knowledge of the child’s future prospects can be easier than uncertainty. In either case, however, fear of the future is a common emotion: “What is going to happen to this child when he is five years old, when he is twelve, when he is twenty-one? What is going to happen to this child when I am gone?” Then other questions arise: “Will he ever learn? Will he ever go to college? Will he or she have the capability of loving and living and laughing and doing all the things that we had planned?” Other unknowns also inspire fear. Parents fear that the child’s condition will be the very worst it possibly could be. Over the years, I have spoken with so many parents who said that their first thoughts were totally bleak. One expects the worst. Memories return of persons with disabilities one has known. Sometimes there is guilt over some slight committed years before toward a person with a disability. There is also fear of society’s rejection, fears about how brothers and sisters will be affected, questions as to whether there will be any more brothers or sisters in this family, and concerns about whether the husband or wife will love this child.