Down's Syndrome visit

Hi everybody!
To stop this blog becoming the story of my descent into madness and stalkerish behaviour, I'm going to talk a bit about a home visit I made today.

As part of my course, I visited the family of a child with Down's Syndrome with two colleagues, with the intention of teaching us medical students the social side and problems of families dealing with children with special needs and how it impacts the family dynamic. Down's syndrome is a genetic disorder (typically caused by trisomy (3 chromosomes) on chromosome 21) which manifests itself in delayed development - so a 5 year old with Down's syndrome may show the "mental development" of a child a few years younger.

It was an amazing experience. I really enjoyed the visit. The family were really nice, and I don't know what I was really expecting. The first thing that struck me was quite how cheerful the child (H) was. H was a five year old boy who had just begun at a normal school, and he seemed so happy. It didn't seem to phase him in the slightest, the fact that three strangers were in his house and were cluttering up his living room. He was friendly and outgoing and engrossed in the cartoon on the DVD player.

The family were lovely. It was a standard nuclear family: mum, dad (who wasn't there for the visit), elder brother (who wasn't affected by Down's). They obviously showed him a lot of love. The older brother was obviously very bright, and slightly more shy about meeting the three strangers in his home.

The mum kindly chatted with us for just under an hour and a half, while H played in front of us (trying to destroy the living room and investigate the DVD player - despite it being in a child-resistant cabinet). It struck me from hearing her stories how shamefully inadequate the support the family received was, and also (despite the family doing an amazing job) how guilty the mum felt. Every time she complained about (very understandable) problems, she kept suffixing it with self-effacing comments like "you must think I'm awful" or "I'm such a whiny bitch". I don't know how well I would cope with looking after a child with a learning disorder, but if I did as well and as much as that family, I would be pleased with myself. I also think that after that visit, I could do better than I thought beforehand.

It's made me even more keen to volunteer here for the special needs club, which organises little activities and parties for special needs children. If you have the opportunity to get involved with similar, please do so. It would do you good, not to mention helping the kid and the family.

Peace and love
AcidCat