This blog tends to be an “all about Max” affair but Michele happened upon a story in an Italian newspaper that we want to share. While not specifically about our child it is about a child, now a young adult, who society “counted out” due to her disability. Many equate “special needs” with not so special abilities. But this young lady’s parents knew from the very beginning something that Michele and I have held near and dear these last ten years. No matter what, no matter where, no matter how, our children are capable of accomplishing everything a “typical” child (Hate, hate, hate this term. There is no such thing as an “atypical” child but that’s a story for another day) can accomplish. As long as we have hope and believe in our children, and ourselves, the sky’s the limit. Never, ever discount the sense of hope held tight by the parents of a special needs child. It is our hope that drives us to push ourselves, our children, their medical providers, and their schools to be certain that our children have every opportunity to succeed. Not only to succeed but to surpass their “typical” (there goes that odious term again) friends. This is the story of just such a child.
It’s the story of Giusi, a beautiful young lady who just so happens to have Down’s syndrome. But if you ask her she will tell you, “Io non sono Down, sono Giusi, Giusi Spagnolo”. “I am not Down’s syndrome, I am Giusi, Giusi Spagnolo.” She has never let the random name of a syndrome dictate who or what she is. Her parents made certain of this, to quote her father:
“Il segreto - spiega lui, ex presidente nazionale dell'Associazione famiglie persone Down - è non porsi ostacoli preventivi, conoscere a fondo i propri figli, cercare in loro il germe di un talento di un'opportunità, assecondarla in ogni modo. Una ricetta che credo sia valida per tutti i genitori, e non solo per quelli che hanno figli con difficoltà maggiori. In una parola, crederci”.
“The secret,” he explains, “is to not put up obstacles where they don’t exist, to know our children, to find in them the seedling of their talents, an opportunity, and to nurture it in every way. A theory that, I believe, is valid for all parents and not just parents of children with greater difficulties. In a word, believe in them.”
Recently Giusi became the first woman with Down’s syndrome to graduate from a European university. But she didn’t just graduate, she rocked it with a grade of 105 out of a possible 110 – an almost impossible feat! She hopes to go on to inspire and teach other children. But this is the story of just one child and her parents; there are many of us out there. We hold tight to our hope, our faith, and our belief that our children will have a future full of realized dreams and successes. No matter what a doctor and modern medicine may tell us we live off of hope, some days it’s all we have. The hope a cure will be found, that our children will have a chance to shine. In fact, there is another Italian family out there praying just such a prayer for their daughter. Serena is a beautiful little girl with a bright smile and dark eyes but shortly after her birth four years ago it became clear that something wasn’t quite right. And so her parent’s quest began. Although doctor after doctor has told them there is little they can do for their daughter these parents have not, will not give up. They believe in their daughter, they have hope and faith that a cure will come. After all don’t we all have hope for, belief in, and faith for our children’s future? Parents of children with special needs just have a little more than “typical” parents!
To read the whole article (in Italian :)) or at least see a picture of Giusi, go to: http://www3.lastampa.it/cronache/sezioni/articolo/lstp/394413/
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