Comments on: Camelot

By: Liz Tree

Liz Tree — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 14:40:41 +0000

Wow… my son Is about to enter first grade and I feel I just went on a journey with you, o he has down syndrome. we are trying to pick to right school, charter being one……………….Please keep us posted I want to hear all about Junior high school.
Thanks for your post

By: Cole

Cole — Tue, 21 Jan 2014 13:52:47 +0000

Sigh. It’s the thing that really sets having a child with special needs apart. We’ve been debating moving for over 3 years now. Just to the town where I work which is lovely and has tons more to do then the town we are in. And the thing that keeps us where we are even though life would be better for 4/5 of us…is the fact that for one of us it wouldn’t be. Daycare/school…you’re right- school choice doesn’t apply in our situation.

By: Amysilverman

Amysilverman — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 20:31:45 +0000

KBF — Oh no, the cinnamon/peppermint combo. I’ll give you some next time I see you. And — thank you.

By: Amysilverman

Amysilverman — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 20:31:15 +0000

Marylee — thank you so much for sharing this. Now I want to move to Belgium! Plus — the chocolate.

By: Kim Blake

Kim Blake — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 04:57:20 +0000

Amy,

I have the utmost faith that Sophie will do very well no matter where she lands for middle school. Think about all she has accomplished already. She is bossy, she is sassy, she is confident, she has a healthy ego and a big personality that everyone falls in love with. She may have some challenges in her new school but I strongly feel that she is ready for the challenge. You may be quite surprised.

Kim

By: Sarah C.

Sarah C. — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 02:17:01 +0000

Good Luck with this, Amy. I wish there were more options. Still, bloom where you’re planted, right? Right???!!!

The neighborhood high school my son would feed into (in twelve years) is very proud of having gone from failing to above average. I foresee dilemmas.

By: Karen

Karen — Wed, 15 Jan 2014 20:08:51 +0000

The cherry and green apple Tic Tacs? I just bought those on clearance and they were amazing.

The situation is different but after looking at a few different high schools for Brennan, we went with the neighborhood school (colors also purple). When things progressed (bad word) to IEP levels for Brennan the school started to suck and then the school psychologist left and things became wonderful. All the staff works to help without the judgement that was making things difficult (you know he was faking it all, right?). Now in a school with about 1700 students (I cried harder first day freshman year than I did at elementary school), the administrators to the teachers make me feel like Brennan is their #1 priority (really!).

Don’t know what it will be like for Sophie, but the purple thing seems good.

By: Marylee MacDonald

Marylee MacDonald — Wed, 15 Jan 2014 19:40:12 +0000

Dear Amy,
I have a friend in Belgium, and their daughter (with Down Syndrome) is now an adult. When I visited them a few years ago I learned how different the situation is there from what parents face here. There truly is a social safety net. Parents are active, but the government policies provide far more alternatives. Their daughter now lives in a small group home that she totally loves. She’s proud and independent and has her own life. She comes home for dinner on Sundays, but otherwise, she is launched into her own adult life. At no point in raising her did they have that clutch feeling that parents in the U.S. feel. Each time there’s a transition to another school or, god forbid, the end of schooling, parents face the need to search, once again, for options that never feel adequate to the child’s needs. When I asked my friend Willy how the government could afford to provide group homes like this, he said, “That’s why we pay taxes. Our taxes are over 40 % but I don’t resent it because our daughter is so well looked after.” He is now retirement age, and they are comforted that they have found excellent care for their well loved child. They don’t have to have the worry that they are getting old and that they can’t personally do what they once were able to do. They can relax their parents’ eternal vigilance because they know others have already stepped in to provide their daughter a loving home.