Meet Leo

Introducing Leo

“When asked what I wished the world knew about Down syndrome, I thought of all the big and little things I’ve wanted people to know. It feels like such an important question. I’m raising my son in a world that will judge him based on the diagnosis he wears on his face. He will be categorized, placed into a small box that people assume is good and necessary for him, he will be underestimated and pitied and mocked more than I like to imagine. If only they really knew.

For the people that we’ve passed in the grocery store and stare a little too long- I wish they saw him and knew that there is nothing “wrong” with him. I wish the world knew that Down syndrome is not some tragic misstep of the universe, but something magical instead. I wish that people saw my son and knew that he is worthy, not in spite of his diagnosis, but because of it. I wish they knew that people with Down syndrome are not some broken versions of what should have been. My son is who he is, the complete and intended version of himself, only with that extra chromosome. Yes, Down syndrome has brought us challenges, but those have made us stronger.  Yes, Down syndrome has made us more vulnerable, but that has also made us more compassionate, more open, and more fulfilled. Leo has changed us in the most vital of ways and for that I will always feel lucky.

Down syndrome has not broken him. It has not broken us as a family, or me as his mother. Down syndrome has made us all a little more whole. And if there was one thing above all the rest that I wish people knew, it would be that.”

written by Mom, Rosie