Another article by the author of the blog you can look at that is listed to the right on my blog titled mommy life. Too good not to post.We've come a long way, Baby Trig!
Two weeks ago when Sarah Palin accepted her party's VP nomination, she brought along a little extra someone whose very existence - suddenly center stage - would ignite a long overdue national discussion of what it means to welcome a child with Down syndrome.
The conversation actually began in the 1950s when a few brave mothers and fathers looked their doctors in the eye and said they wanted to take their babies home - extra chromosome and all - ignoring the standard advice: "Your baby is a Mongoloid. We know a place we can send him. We recommend you go back and try again."
Parents of today's children with Down syndrome owe a debt of gratitude to those pioneers who just said no to warehousing "defective" babies; who let go of their grief for the child they had expected and learned to appreciate the unexpected love and joy of the child they had.
It was a quiet revolution which taught us that love indeed was the answer, that when raised in a loving family, children with Down syndrome were capable of far more than we'd ever dreamed.
The public school system helped in this process, prodded by parents and advocates who insisted that every child deserved an education. And while it may have started with trailers behind the school, today our kids - instead of being segregated and stigmatized - are part of classrooms across the country.
The full inclusion of these children has been beneficial for all. The generation that's grown up rubbing elbows with kids like Trig Palin has learned to value qualities beyond intelligence and appearance. Several years ago, the students at Loudoun Valley High voted a beautiful young woman with Down syndrome - Lauren Welsh, now a student at George Mason University - homecoming queen. Truly, her classmates had discovered something special about life.
In many ways it's a wonderful world Trig is on his way to encountering. A world full of family, friends, and professionals who understand his needs and are eager to help him reach his potential.
But even as the quality of life has dramatically improved for individuals with Down syndrome, 90 percent of those diagnosed prenatally are aborted before they are ever given a chance to change hearts or make their mark on society.
Those of us with children with Down syndrome - no matter where we stand politically - have been torn by these conflicting messages from our culture: Yes, your child is worth our society's investment in resources and time but if it's not too late, Maybe you should just get rid of him and try again.
Because his mother chose life, Trig is privileged to live to experience the blessings of being a baby, a child, and eventually a man with Down syndrome in a world that is becoming increasingly more open, more accepting of those with special needs.
But because his mom is also now a candidate for Vice President, he is also entering the national stage. The Palin family has shown through example that having a baby with Down syndrome is not a tragedy. During her mom's acceptance speech, when Piper Palin licked her hand to lovingly smooth her brother's hair and as Baby Trig was passed from one set of arms to another - including Cindy McCain's - we saw a picture of the exquisite tenderness a child with Down syndrome brings out in those around him.
In a debate that has remained theoretical for many people, Trig makes it personal. When Sarah Palin hugged , then turned him toward us so we could see those sweetly almond-shaped eyes, he truly became the Face Seen Round the World.
