Hello! My name is Susan and I am the proud mom of Matthew who just turned 18 last June. When I was pregnant those many years ago I had no idea my child would be born with Down Syndrome. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that at the time I didn't even know what Down Syndrome was. Regardless, I welcomed him into the world with open arms and learned everything I could about Down Syndrome -- and at the time there wasn't a lot of accurate information available. Much of what I learned I call "on the job training" and I had the best teacher possible. Matthew! I am still learning from him.

I am happy to have found this forum and am looking forward to getting to know all of you!

We're delighted to have you--a voice of experience. Looking forward to hearing more about Matthew.

Hello and welcome!! Looking forward to learning more about you and Matthew!!

Welcome! I love to hear about the "older" children. Your experiences can help us so much!

Welcome to Downsyn! We may not have much to offer you in the way of our experiences, but you will know what we're going through. Glad to have another "experienced" parent on board! I'm looking forward to seeing pictures of Matthew and learning more about your family. Do you have other children?

Hello Susan and Matthew - it is great to have you on board. Everyone on Down syn has so much to offer. I look forward to seeing your photos.

hello susan welcome to the forum!!

Hi Susan,
First of all, welcome to Downsyn!! I'm SOOOOO glad you joined us! I just visited your website...WOW!! THANK YOU for all you said. It was SO inspiring, encouraging, hopeful, and helpful! As a HS Special Education Teacher (at the moment--formerly an Elem. Regular Ed. Teacher!), I ESPECIALLY appreciated the insights you offered on the educational experiences you have had. Although I am "new" to special ed myself (this is my 3rd year), I, too have, had the misfortune to have received kids in my class, whose "track" had been focused on ONLY life skills, and not academic skills. Can you imagine the amazement of the administration last year, when I showed them that one JUNIOR, who had started the year reading at 2nd grade level, was now reading at 6th grade level by the end of the year?!? (And I only had him 1 hour/day!) I actually had one of the student's previous Special Ed. teachers come and tell me, "You're making the rest of us look bad." Ummm, how, exactly?!? By doing my job? By helping this kid, who is perfectly capable of learning to read, to actually LEARN TO READ?!?! You've gotta be kidding me!!! I have been both shocked and horrified as I have come across so many times, kids who have been "academically abadoned" in the special ed programs. At the same time, I can't help by wonder WHERE in the world their parents are?!? If only more of these kids had parents like YOU who truly advocate for their kid, and not just let whatever happens, happen.
Sorry, I got on my soapbox, and this is YOUR introduction. So I'll stop now! Anyway, welcome and hope to read and learn lots more from you!!

Thank you for such a warm welcome!

Matthew is my only child. His father couldn't cope with having a child with a disability and we divorced when Matthew was just an infant. Other than a few close friends, it's pretty much just been Matthew and me. Fortunately, I am self-employed which has allowed me to earn a living and be a stay-at-home mom.

Barbie, thanks for your kind words about Matthew's website. It really makes me sad to see so many students with disabilities cheated out of an academic education. My school district actually thought I'd gone off the deep end when Matthew was seven and I insisted that reading & writing be included in his education. What a struggle I had with that, but it was worth it! Matthew is a senior in high school this year. He attends a special education class for his required courses (English, math & American government) and regular classes for all of his electives. His electives over the past three years have included construction technology, home maintenance, computer applications, home economics and two years of Spanish. Yep, now he can read, write and speak in two languages!

He also plays golf in the Special Olympics Unified Sports program and earned his high school varsity letter last fall. He is especially proud of that because he is the first student with a disability to have earned a high school varsity letter.

Here's a photo of us celebrating his 18th birthday in Mexico last June.

Susan and Matthew, welcome to you! WOW!! You are a welcomed voice on the site. Your son is so attractive as are you and you are an incredible Mother. Of course, I'm willing to say we all are.

So nice to meet you and looking forward to more inspirational stories from you. We're just getting on that road to education, my little one will be 5 in December and will start Kindergarten next year.

Thanks again and welcome to you both!!

Libby

Hi Susan welcome and we look forward to hearing more about you and Matthew, we have a beautiful 3mth old daughter who happens to have DS and a liitle boy who is nearly 2 years old.

welcome. cant wait to hear more about you and your family. hope you can post pictures soon!

Welcome Susan. Matthew has achieved so much, you must be so proud of him and him of you.

Welcome Susan and Matthew! I'm so glad you joined us! I am grandmother to Olivia, who is 3 years old. She is such a joy to our family! I just looked at your website, and it's wonderful! It's so great to hear about your son, and what a wonderful advocate you have been for him. Thank you so much for paving the way for our little ones. When my daughter did her student teaching in a 3rd grade classroom, there was a little boy named Jason with Down syndrome in her classroom. His mother really had to struggle to have her son included, but I'm so grateful that she did, because she also helped make things better for all children with disabilities. My daughter was so in love with Jason, and she would come home everyday and couldn't wait to tell us all about him. I also was blessed to meet Jason a few times, and that really help me when Olivia was born to have knowledge of him. That was ten years ago that my daughter did her student teaching, so Jason is probably the same age as Matthew.

Welcome, Welcome. I look forward to hearing more about you and Matthew and benefiting from your experiences!

Welcome to the DownSyn family. I look forward to learning more about you and Matthew.

Welcome!!!

Susan, Welcome to DownSyn!!! Matthew is so handsome!! Looks like he had a blast at Mexico. I am so proud of him for his accomplishments and I just read about it!!! I work as a high school special ed teacher. The community based class is next to me. May I share your story with the teacher so that she can see that our kids can do things that others say will never happen? I want Justin to be successful and sometimes I feel that the school holds him back. Although he has great teachers this year.

I am so glad that you have joined us. I can't wait to ask questions.

You and your son are living proof that what I believe in my heart about our children is true. The sky is the limit, we just may have to use a lens in the telescope.

18? Wow! I have a year and a few months to go until my oldest is that old. I want to know how you got a child to 18 and look so young!

Nice to meet you.

Hi Susan...

Welcome, welcome. Glad to see a mom with an older child that I can learn from. My name is Nicol and my son 15 next month.

I was a single mom through most of Alex's life as I was just married in 2004 to a wonderful, loving accepting man and to my son he is dad. Although recently married he has known Alex for about 7 years as we were neighbors.

My son is mainstreamed as well for all classes except reading and math and is in 8th grade moving to high school next year.

I am so glad you joined and hope to chat with you more about your son and his high school experiences. I suppose it will only be a few more months before I begin looking at the programs available for my son.

Welcome.

I can't wait for you to share your wisdom and experience with us.

Welcome!! It is so exciting to hear about how well the older kids on this forum are doing. I can see that it is often a struggle for our kids to be given the same opportunities that other kids get. I am still struggling with the health system for Talitha receive the treatment she needs but we recently had a breakthrough with being prioritised for g-tube surgery. We have the whole education thing ahead of us and we will be looking to you guys for inspiration.

Matthew - you are a star!

Susan,

Welcome! I checked out your website. YOu are a strong adovocate for Matthew. I hope I have the strength and knowledge by the time Hannah reaches school age. Since Hannah will be two in January I've been sorta looking into what school I'd like her to attend.

I'm glad parents of older children are on this website to offer us new parents advice and guidance.

Welcome Welcome! It is so great to have you here! My son Jack is 5 months with DS, and I have a 2 year old Bella and 5 year old stepdaughter Keeley. We found out his dx 2 weeks after Jack was born, and he is the love of our lives. You and your son look like you had a fantastic time in Mexico! Looking forward to getting to know you both!