Lots of people with little kids or babies with Down syndrome tell me they aren't afraid of the future for their child because of what I am doing to help people understand it better.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Kids with Down syndrome are, by and large, quite affectionate and relatively guileless, and frequently, the attachments to them grow and deepen. And the meaning that parents find in it grows and deepens.
Once you have a Down's syndrome child, you can't conform. In a way, you're free.
I get mail from people all over the world now from people who tell me that they didn't really understand Down syndrome, but because of me they have read about it and studied it and now they know a lot more about it.
For those that don't know, my sister was born with Down Syndrome, and she was institutionalized in the very early sixties. Me, being just a small boy and being shuffled around between my mother and grandparents, I never knew her.
Having Down syndrome is like being born normal. I am just like you and you are just like me. We are all born in different ways, that is the way I can describe it. I have a normal life.
I don't have a fear of becoming a parent, but I do have a fear of taking care of a newborn because they are so tiny and vulnerable.
I don't really have Down's syndrome; I just have a slight case of it.
I believe it is my responsibility to do what I can for children and people with Down syndrome as well as in my native Dominican Republic.
Most of the folks to whom I listen are concerned for their future. Too many of them know someone who's out of work, has lost their own job, or fear they might. And, they increasingly believe that the opportunity for a better life for their children is slipping away.
What having a Down's syndrome child isn't - and I feel very strongly about this - is a tragedy. All those pregnancy books you read when you are expecting refer to Down's syndrome as if it were the worst possible outcome, and it's not.