8 Major Misconceptions About Down’s Syndrome - From A Parent Who Had Them
6. Nothing Special
Something regrettably only learned the hard way for a parent of a child with Down's Syndrome is shaping how supportive family and friends care for you in the way you need, rather than the way they think is best.
It's important to remember that this unexpected development could be something they themselves are working out how to process, and may be unsure of how best to proceed. Luckily, what gradually and organically forms is a mutually beneficial relationship, where a shared kindness and understanding brings about a totally unique new support system, but this doesn't come without time or effort.
A huge misapprehension from most is that, in a well-intended effort to boost morale, your child is 'special', 'extra special', or a variation of the term. Empty positivity it may be, but there'll probably never be a time in your entire life where you'd give anything for your son or daughter to be as middle-of-the-road as possible.
'I wish I was special', sang Thom Yorke in Radiohead's seminal misanthropic masterpiece 'Creep', with his brooding undertones belying a feeling of deep sadness at his plight. The exact opposite is often the case with parents of a child with Down's Syndrome. Boring and/or unremarkable would warrant festival-like celebrations during the aforementioned period of grief, and even sometimes emerges during times of complete and sturdy acceptance. Gently advise the people that love you and your child of this, and you'll probably hear the lightbulb going on as they come to share that exact sentiment.