Special Family Network

Alaska’s governor, Sarah Palin, recently gave birth to her fifth child. He is a beautiful baby boy named Trig Paxon Van Palin.

He was born with Down Syndrome.

A statement released by her and her husband, Todd says,

“Trig is beautiful and already adored by us. We knew through early testing he would face special challenges, and we feel privileged that God would entrust us with this gift and allow us unspeakable joy as he entered our lives. We have faith that every baby is created for good purpose and has potential to make this world a better place. We are truly blessed.”

I am so happy that, though they knew before birth that Trig was going to have Down Syndrome, she continued with her pregnancy and is taking so much joy in the life of her baby. 90% of American mothers who find out that the baby that they are carrying has Down Syndrome choose to have an abortion. They believe that abortion is the best option when in truth they are missing out on what could be one of life’s greatest blessings.

To read more about Trig’s birth please read this article.

“And the two will be one. So they are no longer two but one.” Mark 10:8

It is every parent’s worst nightmare: Learning that there is something wrong with your child. I remember that feeling all to well when a doctor told me that my son Luke probably had Cystic Fibrosis. I felt as though the room was shrinking, my brain went numb, and all I wanted to do was hold my baby and cry. It turns out that my son did not have Cystic Fibrosis, but a rare genetic syndrome called Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome. It was a very long and difficult road to diagnosis and there were many times that I almost forgot about the one person who understood how I felt the most. My husband.

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Just more proof that anyone can do anything with determination. These two articles show that if a child with Down Syndrome wants to be an actor, they can reach that dream. Just ask the young man who made an appearance on ER tonight.

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Mike Bailey, a young man with Down Syndrome, has been inducted into the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame. He is an avid athlete competing in such sports as power lifting, basket ball, and six others. Please take a moment to read this article about this exceptional young man and understand why it is so important to support the Special Olympics.

Here are some videos on Down Syndrome in honor of Down Syndrome awareness.

While reading up on some background information on Arthur Miller, I was shocked to see that he has a son with Down Syndrome. Like many babies born in the 1960’s with disabilities, Daniel Miller was placed in an institution. In this well written article, we can read about Danny Miller and see what a remarkable young man he turned out to be in spite of his placement in one of those ill-equipped “homes.”

October is the month to celebrate Down Syndrome (though those of you who have children with Down Syndrome know that every month is a celebration). If anyone would like to participate in a Buddy Walk to help raise awareness for Down Syndrome, please check out this link to find the Buddy Walk in your area.

I am a firm believer in the use of baby sign language. My older child is language delayed, so we started teaching him sign language in order to reduce some of the frustrations that both of us were feeling due to his lack of communication skills (pointing and screaming just wasn’t working for us). We plan to teach our younger son, who has Down Syndrome, sign language sometime in the next few months. We used the My Baby Can Talk DVDs and Baby Einstein to learn the basics and used the signs around our son. It only took a few weeks for us to see results.

Below is a good video of a baby using sign language. A baby will not do the signs perfect (When our son says “Thank You” it looks like “Eat” but we know what he is saying) but this will give you an idea as to what to expect.

I would like to say a special Thank You to the people at Babytalk magazine for featuring a child with Down Syndrome on its cover and a wonderful story from a mom’s point of view. It is rare to see a mainstream parenting magazine featuring a child that is considered “different” in a positive light especially with The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists encouraging women to have their pregnancies screened for D0wn Syndrome. Sadly over 90% of expectant moms of a child with Down Syndrome choose to have an abortion rather that take the responsibility of an extraordinary, beautiful human life. Hopefully more magazines will feature special needs children to show parents that having a special needs child is not the end of the world, it is just the beginning of a wonderful journey.

Doctors in Colorado have been experimenting with Alzheimer Disease drugs and they believe that these medications may help reverse the learning deficits that are associated with Down Syndrome. This article is very informative and shows a lot of promise for the 350,000 plus people with Down Syndrome in this country. There is also a video on the left hand side of this article well worth watching.

While this article does show promise, it also reminds us that Down Syndrome receives the least amount of funding of all the diseases and disorders that the government gives funding for research. If you have a child with Down Syndrome, it is very important to have a voice and use it to help those you love. Write letters to your representatives, tell people about your child. There are medications that may help people with Down Syndrome, but unless more money is given to research, we may never see these drugs used in our life time.