'Though this sentiment was probably meant to be encouraging, it was not. I wanted to scream.'
The author with his son John, who won three medals in the snowshoe events at the New York State Special Olympics Winter Games .Moments after his birth, I held our newborn in my arms as I had his two older brothers, bent over him and wept with tears of joy.
We knew people with Down syndrome – my wife had even worked in a group home one summer in college – and we knew we would love him no matter what. But we were at a loss. What was happening?John sleeping on his mother Carol's chest the day he was born .As the sun came up on John’s first day of life, we began to get calls and visits from family and friends.
The nurses and staff also grew quiet when they entered the room and spoke in voices loaded with pity. Unable to find meaningful work when he finished school, John came to me and said he wanted to go into business together. He suggested that we start, which we bootstrapped into the world’s largest sock store. More than half our employees are differently abled. The child who could not speak and needed to learn sign language to communicate is now an in-demand keynote speaker and has testified twice before Congress, spoken at the United Nations and been named EY Entrepreneur of the Year.
A child born with Down syndrome is likely to face a number of significant medical challenges. John required a bowel resection on day three of his life and open-heart surgery before he reached three months, but these medical interventions are available. And a child with Down syndrome may need physical, occupational and speech therapy that can begin as early as the first year.
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