I’m not sure if I ever told this story before.
My mother’s youngest sister Audrey had Down syndrome. She was born in 1934 so things were very different back then for people with Down syndrome. Parents were often encouraged to have their children institutionalized because there were not many supports in place to help them parent their child with Down syndrome.
For parents, like my grandparents, who chose to keep their child at home, they were often on their own in supporting their child. Resources like special education departments, physical, speech, and occupational therapy were either not present or very difficult to access.
My mother and Audrey were 18 months a part in age. So my grandparents, who were recent immigrants from the Netherlands, sent BOTH girls to the small country school on the first day of kindergarten for my mom.
Keep in mind, these 2 little girls lived in a house where Dutch was the primary language while the family was learning English.
At the end of that first day of kindergarten, my grandparents were told not to bring Audrey back to school. They didn’t know how to teach her.
That was the only day of school Audrey ever attended.
Audrey spent her childhood and young adulthood at home with my grandmother. Incredibly though Audrey was able to understand English and Dutch.
Fortunately, as her life progressed, so did advancements in special education. There became more opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities. Because of this Audrey went on in her adulthood to have a “job” through RCS- a disability services and support organization in our area.
As a child, I remember being told Aunt Audrey made one Brillo pad a day- not sure if that’s accurate, but it wouldn’t surprise me if her great nephew Jonah had a similar workload someday😊 Jonah loves fun a little more than work-haha.
When I told our boys about my Aunt Audrey only being able to attend school for ONE day, their eyes got very big. I think they realized Audrey's one day of school is a very different experience from their education.
Jonah and Ben have had amazing opportunities these past 15 years.
1. Jonah started speech (feeding), physical and occupational therapies at 3 weeks old!
2. He started school at 3 years old in our school’s Early Childhood program.
3. Our Ben was brought immediately into our school system when he arrived at age 6 from Lithuania. Our school stepped right up and helped bridge the gap for a little boy who had never had any therapy his first 6 years. He was still learning English. Yet our school surrounded him with all the supports and services possible.
4. Over the years, we have benefited from the hard work and dedication of the school teachers (both special education and general classroom), therapists, support staff, and administration.
5. As well, we’ve also had great therapists outside of our school system through private speech and physical therapy.
6. And beyond the classroom, the boys have been welcomed, encouraged and supported to participate in extra curricular activities at school: football, esports, and the school play. The overall attitude always seems to be “How can we make this work” instead of questioning if it will work- big difference!
7. Also beyond the school classroom, the Sunday school teachers at our church are open and willing to make the Sunday school lessons adaptable to the boys’ level of understanding.
So looking over this list, we definitely have a lot of gratitude in our hearts. We are very thankful for each person who has played a part in our boys’ education journey. These boys always seem to land in sweet places. We pray this will continue to be their experience in life.
So much more than one day!
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