We have known about Miss Banana's diagnosis of Down syndrome for 1 year. In that one year, I can count on one hand the number of times I have seen other people with Down syndrome
in person:
1. A new parent meeting held by our local Nebraska Down syndrome family association where there was a cute little 18 month old girl eating Cheerios and exploring all the things she shouldn't touch in the room
2. A going away lunch my friends gave me at Valentino's--there was a girl who was probably early 20s eating with her friends
3. A Home Depot Project day in Nebraska--there was a boy about 8 or 9 who was NOT happy that the days project did not involve the use of a hammer (only wood glue was needed)
4. Piggly Wiggly--a man probably in his late 20s, working
5. The Buddy Walks here in the South (I group them together b/c it is expected to see people w/ Down syndrome at Buddy Walks!)
And that's it.
I
crave seeing other people with Down syndrome--I am so thankful for the blogging community that at least lets me know that there ARE other people with Down syndrome out there, just not anywhere near me. I would happily attend a support group to try to meet more people, but the closest one to me is over an hour away, and they don't seem to meet regularly (or at all?) I would start my own group in my town, but oh wait, it would consist of JUST our family, so that kind of defeats the purpose of support "group".
Down syndrome isn't THAT uncommon.
So, my fellow families touched by Down syndrome, where are you???
1. A new parent meeting held by our local Nebraska Down syndrome family association where there was a cute little 18 month old girl eating Cheerios and exploring all the things she shouldn't touch in the room
2. A going away lunch my friends gave me at Valentino's--there was a girl who was probably early 20s eating with her friends
3. A Home Depot Project day in Nebraska--there was a boy about 8 or 9 who was NOT happy that the days project did not involve the use of a hammer (only wood glue was needed)
4. Piggly Wiggly--a man probably in his late 20s, working
5. The Buddy Walks here in the South (I group them together b/c it is expected to see people w/ Down syndrome at Buddy Walks!)
And that's it.
I crave seeing other people with Down syndrome--I am so thankful for the blogging community that at least lets me know that there ARE other people with Down syndrome out there, just not anywhere near me. I would happily attend a support group to try to meet more people, but the closest one to me is over an hour away, and they don't seem to meet regularly (or at all?) I would start my own group in my town, but oh wait, it would consist of JUST our family, so that kind of defeats the purpose of support "group".
Down syndrome isn't THAT uncommon.
So, my fellow families touched by Down syndrome, where are you???