Why GiGi’s – Part 3!

Why GiGi’s?  Part 3

In our newest “Why GiGi’s” entry, we hear from Board Member, Heather Snapp:

(Above: Heather’s daughter, Maya, rocking her crazy socks for World Down Syndrome Day 2017.)

Why GiGi’s?

by Heather Snapp

Maya’s diagnosis came in a phone call about two weeks before we moved our family from Illinois to Florida, and her early delivery came three months later. I started searching for answers, organizations, support—anything. But I soon found that not much Down syndrome support existed in the area we now called home. I was given phone numbers for a couple of local moms who had kids with Down syndrome. Although incredibly helpful, friendly, and supportive, they were also busy moms who couldn’t be expected to be there all the time.

I can still remember scrolling through my Facebook feed when I saw a post a friend shared from another GiGi’s Playhouse location near my hometown. I went to the GiGi’s website and read carefully about “how to start a location.” I was excited and wanted to take the leap and do it; but being a working mom at a new job with three kids, including a newborn with special needs, I decided it just wasn’t something I could pursue—there was no way I could spread myself that thin. I kept it in the back of my mind, thinking that someday I would do it.

I am so grateful that Angela Rosenberg and other moms didn’t tell themselves they would get to it “someday.” Somehow, I found them through social media and attended that first meeting just over three years ago. I was suddenly part of bringing a GiGi’s Playhouse to our area. During that time, I have thought a lot about why having a GiGi’s Playhouse is important to me—and my family.

I want a GiGi’s Playhouse in Fort Myers so Maya and her friends can reach their fullest potential. I am looking forward to the extra help she will get with literacy and math tutoring and in the areas of gross and fine motor skills. I am excited about the social skills she will learn and, eventually, the career and life skills she will have an opportunity to put into practice. I’m over the moon about the friends she will meet, the fun she will have, and the support that she and our family will receive. I am excited that GiGi’s Playhouse will help her be the best that she can be.

Perhaps most importantly, I want a GiGi’s Playhouse in Fort Myers so that we can educate the community about what Down syndrome is—and isn’t. With a few bumps along the way, we had an overall good experience with doctors during Maya’s diagnosis, but I have several friends who tell stories of being told “sorry” by doctors or nurses, accompanied by somber faces along with their Down syndrome diagnosis. Down syndrome is not a fatal disease! It comes with extra challenges, sure, but also has the potential to open hearts and minds. I have no doubt that if you’ve met Maya or another individual with Down syndrome, your heart has expanded, you’ve smiled, or you’ve learned a new perspective to life. New parents should, first and foremost, be told, “Congratulations!” Others with a prenatal diagnosis have been encouraged or even pressured to “get rid of” their fetus (though I didn’t feel pressured, I was reminded of this possibility, twice—once even after having refused the option). Having a GiGi’s Playhouse in our community gives us the resources and opportunities to make positive changes in awareness and understanding of what a Down syndrome diagnosis truly means. I am so excited about all the possibilities!