{"id":1408,"date":"2017-04-20T12:09:47","date_gmt":"2017-04-20T17:09:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/milwaukee\/?p=1408"},"modified":"2017-04-20T12:09:47","modified_gmt":"2017-04-20T17:09:47","slug":"fool-proof-guide-loving-special-needs-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/milwaukee\/fool-proof-guide-loving-special-needs-family\/","title":{"rendered":"the fool proof guide to loving our special needs family."},"content":{"rendered":"

Thank you Beth for sharing this great post with the GiGi\u2019s Playhouse community! Judah and his family can be found enjoy the programs and friendships at GiGi\u2019s Playhouse Syracuse<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to look too far into the world of special needs to find it chock full of inspirational stories. It\u2019s bursting at the seams with determination and it\u2019s spilling over with promise, pride and people prevailing. This is why I will not speak of my son Judah\u2019s struggles. I will not dive into the pools of possible limitations. I will not elaborate on hardships or strife. Instead I will focus on us as a family, what we need from you, what will ultimately aid in Judah\u2019s success and maybe even send him into a world so inclusive that we don\u2019t even know what it looks like yet.<\/p>\n

1. We are not special. We are not heroes, or brave or extraordinary. We are just a family who loves each other. We will fiercely protect our child, as I know any of you would.<\/p>\n

2. You can ask us about Down syndrome. We certainly do not know all that is Down syndrome. but we are learning fast\u2026 and, as I tell my students, \u201cif I don\u2019t know I\u2019ll find out for you.\u201d We are not frightened, embarrassed or offended if you ask. In fact, we prefer it.<\/p>\n

3. We are different but we are the same. We are, as my new favorite saying states, \u201cmore alike than different.\u201d We still like a beer on the front porch. Our world does not spin on an\u00a0axis revolving around Down syndrome. It is a part of who we are now and we don\u2019t mind talking about it, but we also still like: flip cups, family, friends, fun.<\/p>\n

4. You can treat our son\u00a0just like any other baby. He doesn\u2019t need extra coddling or comforting just because he has an extra chromosome. We still put him in time out, take him everywhere we go and let himself soothe to sleep.<\/p>\n

5. Please ask us to hold our son\u2026 or if that\u2019s not your style, ask to look at him. He will not break, and let\u2019s face it, sometimes his parents need one.<\/p>\n

6. You don\u2019t have to pity us.\u00a0We are fine.\u00a0We are better than fine; we are enlightened, enchanted even.<\/p>\n

7. Thank you when you say you\u2019re proud of us, but really, we should all\u00a0be proud of each other for raising children.\u00a0It is a fruitful yet formidable job. We all deserve a hell of a lot of praise for just keeping these munchkins alive \u2014 not to mention being the reason they flourish.<\/p>\n

8. Help support us supporting our son. Misconceptions and misunderstandings swirl around our society. You know someone who has a baby with Down syndrome. You have witnessed the testament to what Down syndrome is not. You have the power to destroy the negativity if you come across it. The fact that you are reading this tells me you are my son\u2019s\u00a0advocate, and I love you for it.<\/p>\n

9. Just keep doing what you\u2019re doing. I get real sappy when I start talking about how sensational everyone has been. It exceeds everything I think I ever could dream up\u2026 assuming you could dream up a situation such as this. Tears show up every single time. So thank you. Thank you for loving our son and us. Thank you for giving us time to process.\u00a0 Thank you for not deserting us when we were new to the racket and things were messy. Thank you for being our family, our friends, our rocks. I know it sounds clich\u00e9. It may even seem unfathomable, but Down syndrome is the best thing that could\u2019ve ever happened to our hearts, our faith and our perceptions. We truly are #downsyndromeblessed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thank you Beth for sharing this great post with the GiGi\u2019s Playhouse community! Judah and his family can be found enjoy the programs and friendships at GiGi\u2019s Playhouse Syracuse. You don\u2019t have to look too far into the world of special needs to find it chock full of inspirational stories. It\u2019s bursting at the seams…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wpo365_audiences":[],"wpo365_private":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/milwaukee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/milwaukee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/milwaukee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/milwaukee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/132"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/milwaukee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/milwaukee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1408\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/milwaukee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/milwaukee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/milwaukee\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}