The Real Challenge

What One Young Man with Down Syndrome Wants You to Understand

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Yesterday I learned a little bit about a man with Down syndrome named Stephen, and his mother, who wished he had never been born. I don’t know much except what I read from a tabloid article written by his mother. When Stephen was very young, about three years old he cried in the night, a lot. He cried for many hours because of…Pain? Confusion? The article did not say, it was not his story, it was his mother’s, so we learned that she

2019-07-26T19:30:36-05:00Categories: Grown Ups & Downs|Tags: , , , , |16 Comments
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Will You Be Taking The Baby Home

It Happens Here

Would it surprise you to know that right here, in Middle America, the hospital’s social worker asked, “Will you be taking the baby home?” You see, the child was born with Down syndrome. I suppose things were different then. It was, after all, 1990.

baby2 rs1990!

Only 25 years ago, this question was presented about my child as a legitimate and reasonable option. Although my son’s first father and

2015-02-11T10:11:19-06:00Categories: Grown Ups & Downs|Tags: , , , , |10 Comments
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Strangers in the News is My Excuse

MM-old photo workLast week I was wounded by two separate accounts of mothers of a child with Down syndrome who made lethal choices. One within the legal bounds of abortion and the other through willful neglect that led to the torturous death of her son. One made worldwide headlines as a “kindness” and story of anguish for the mother, the other, at the time of sentencing, found only in her local newslines.

Another mother, Patti Saylor, will continue to find justice for the loss of her son, with

2014-10-20T13:47:45-05:00Categories: Grown Ups & Downs|Tags: , |2 Comments
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What I Want Every News Article to Include

I don’t believe “Everything happens for a reason.” I believe that everything that happens has a consequence, yes. I guess what I really don’t believe is the inferred concept that “the reason” is always positive in the long run.

No. In my own past, I have to say that certain experiences have not, in fact, made me a better person. Truth be told, it’s entirely possible that I have been negatively affected by some of the “everything” that life has dealt.

And I’ve got it easy. The news is filled with horrors far worse. Which leads me to my real point: What am I supposed to do with all this bad news, anyway? Most of the time it makes me sick to my stomach, causes nightmares, or that certain dark squiggle to loom over my head.

2013-08-20T18:56:58-05:00Categories: The Innocent Prince|Tags: , |0 Comments
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