Addison and Us

Addison is a happy, thoughtful 5 year old, who happens to have Down syndrome. The purpose of this blog is to share her story and help other parents who have a child with Down syndrome.

Family:

• Mom, analyst for an IT Department
• Dad, works for a software company
• Kennedy, 9, 2nd grader
• Addison, 7, 1st grader
• Onyx, 12, family dog

Education:

• Day Care: At 6 months of age, she began attenting a "typical" day care, where she is the only child with Down syndrome at the day care. For most of the teachers at the day care, this was their first exposure to Down syndrome and things have gone extremely well. The teachers have been receptive to Addison's very few special needs and we are very pleased with the inclusion. Addison currently is in an age appropriate class and is functioning very well in the "typical" environment.
• Public School: At 3 years of age, Addsion started the early intervention program at Angie Debo Elementary. She attends full days and loves school. Oh, by the way, she's been riding the school bus since the first day!

Speech Therapies:

• 30 minutes/week from Angie Debo Elementary
• 1 hour/week from Mercy Therapy Services
• 1 hour/week from Univeristy of Central Oklahoma Speech Clinic

Other Activities/Therapies:

• 1 hour/week of horseback riding at Coffee Creek Riding Center
• 1 hour/week of gymnastics at Oklahoma Gold
• 1 hour/week of swim lessons

Medical History:

• Diagnosed prenatally with Down syndrome
• Born at 34 weeks, spent 21 days in NICU
• Initially diagnosed with hydrocephalus, no need to repair
• Cleft lip and palet, repaired at 6 months of age
• Patent Ductus Arteriosis (PDA), repaired at 1 year of age
• Currently, in good health and no major medical concerns

Addison's Favorite TV Shows:

• Signing Time
• Wiggles
• Jack's Big Music Show

Speech Therapy Recommendations

Libby Kumin is a Professor and Department Chair of the Speech-Language Pathology Department at Loyola College in Baltimore. Her books are a 'must read' for caregivers of children with Down syndrome.
http://www.ds-health.com/speech.htm

Chris Burke's Website

Chris Burke, who played Charles "Corky" Thatcher on the ABC show "Life Goes On" and his recurring role as Taylor, the angel of faith on the CBS show "Touched By An Angel", has his own website. Very inspirational!

Site Written by Parent/Pediatrician

This is a great site written by a pediatrician, who has a son with Down syndrome.

http://www.ds-health.com/

Divorce Rates

There's a common "statistic" that's thrown around that states that the divorce rate is 80% for the parents with a special needs child. I've actually never seen the scientific study that backs up this statistic, so I question the validity of this statistic. However, here's an actual scientific study which documents having a child with Down sydrome does not increase the divorce rate probability. Click here for the study.