Fighting the Mongers again! Sumarizer to the rescue!

In the past few days, I have turned into the Pink Power Ranger! Samurai, Forever! Go! Go! Power Rangers!
Cameron in transitioning to Middle School and the School system wants to send him to a self contained class. For parents of children who do not have disabilities, let me explain that it means being in a class with children who all have disabilities. Nothing wrong with that.
However, in Cameron's case, they (the administrators and teachers) recommnended this in spite of Cameron making progress in a regular ed classroom and being pulled out for resource.
"Oooh! I am afraid for what might happen in Middle School", said his public school Speech Therapist. She started to cry.
I said: "That is the real world and he will have to learn how to deal with it when I am not here"
The law in the United States says that children with disabilities have to be placed within the least restrictive environment possible in the classrooms. If the kid makes progress in the least restrictive environment, then he or she should continue in that placement. However, the "monghers" and the budget cuts seem to believe that what is easier and cheaper for the Department of Education should be what rules.
Samurai Forever! GO GO!

This morning, the first day of school in the county where we live Cameron was not able to attend his home school in the least restrictive environment possible. We filed for due process.
The fist thing that he said this morning when he woke up was: mom, I want to listen to that Spanish song. "El Soldado".
I looked for it in You Tube and that was another confirmation for us to know that we are doing the right thing.
If only Juan Luis Guerra would know how much this song has meant to Cameron and to us....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tub3SuaQtG8

Mamá! viene Jesús!

Fuí bautizada en la Iglesia Católica aunque nunca entendí de que se trataba el bautismo.
Por lo tanto, he estado exponiendo a Cameron a diferentes religiones. Quiero que el elija a cual religión quiere pertenecer si es que hay alguna que le interesa. Me encantaría que el tenga una vida espiritual porque considero que es muy importante para sobrevivir en este mundo. Varias veces ha expresado que quiere ser bautizado en la Iglesia Cristiana Protestante. Siempre resptaré sus deseos.
Hoy, me hizo sonreir. Ibamos conduciendo por la carretera 124 en Snellville, GA y de repente me dice:

Mamá, !viene Jesús!

Pensé en ese momento : ¿de qué me está hablando?

Mira mamá, !viene Jesús! 

Cameron said...Cameron dijo...: Mom, Jesus is coming!

Cameron said...Cameron dijo...: Mom, Jesus is coming!: I was baptized under the Catholic Church without me really understanding what baptism was really about. So I have been exposing Cameron to d...

Mom, Jesus is coming!

I was baptized under the Catholic Church without me really understanding what baptism was really about. So I have been exposing Cameron to different beliefs. I want him to choose what religion he wants to belong to if any.
I would love for him to have a very spiritual life because I consider that to be extremely important to survive in this world. He  has expressed a few times that he would like to be baptized under the Christian Protestant Church. I will always respect his wishes.
Today, though, he made me smile after a couple of days of not smiling very much.
We were driving on Highway 124 in Snellville, GA and all of the sudden he says:

Mom!!!! Jesus is coming!!!!!

I thought, what in the world?

Look, mom! Jesus is coming!!!

¿Cómo hago para llegar hasta allí?

Unos días antes de Navidad murió nuestra adorada perra. Ésta es la primera vez que muere un ser querido de Cameron. Desde que murió Sonar está intentando comprender el concepto de la muerte.

Antes de Navidad me preguntó: mamá, ¿crees que Santa traerá a Sonar para Navidad?
Le expliqué una vez más que cuando uno muere, físicamente ya no puede volver.

Sin embargo, le señalé: el alma de Sonar siempre estará con nosotros y con Dios.

Cameron: ¿y dónde está Dios?
Yo: Dios es amor y Dios está en todas partes.

Cameron se quedó pensando y después de un rato preguntó:
¿Dios está en Atlanta? (la ciudad donde vivimos)

Yo: Sí, Dios está en Atlanta y en todas partes. Dios está en el cielo, en el paraíso.
Cameron se queda pensando una vez más y pregunta:

                        ¿Cómo hago para llegar hasta allí?

 

Cameron's first love......

Cameron does not want me to kiss him in public anymore. What you see above is his first written declaration of love for his classmate Kirsten. Throughout several weeks he was acting like a radar by following every one of her moves. Every day he would come home with a full report.

"Mom, Kirsten said hi during recess. Mom, Kirsten did not look at me today. Mom, I will marry Kirsten."

It warmed my heart to think that he was falling for a girl for the first time. However, I had mixed feelings about how he and typical girls would react to his falling in love with them. He is now 11 years old and thus far he has never felt "different". Kirsten is a typical girl. 

 

How could I explain that not all the girls will be interested in him? Harder yet, how would I explain that the majority of typical girls will not be interested in him? They will "love" him according to what is "accepted" and the "norm" but not "love" him as in falling in love with him and as he would like to be loved by them.

How can I spare him of the pain of rejection and even more so of being rejected by typical girls because he has Down Syndrome? 

Well, the best way that I could find to explain it to him is very simple. I told him that regardless if someone has Down Syndrome or not finding a lover for life is not easy. However, I assured him that God someone special waiting for him. 

As a mother of a child with Down Syndrome, I know that I will have a key role in including him as much as possible in as many groups as possible where he will have the opportunity to interact with peers. I will have a key role in giving him opportunities to build friendships and perhaps even in him finding his soulmate.

The first step is to open the doors of possibilities for him because opposite of what I thought when he was a newborn- falling in love, true love, can happen amongst people with intellectual disabilities.

Is is not the same way for the general "typical" population?

 

 

El primer amor de Cameron - Spanish

Cameron ya ni quiere que le de besos, sobre todo en público. Ésta fué la declaración de amor escrita a Kirsten, su adorada compañera de clase. Durante varias semanas se la pasó como un radar captando todo sobre Kirsten y al regresar de la escuela me daba el reporte. 

 

Má: Kirsten me saludó en el recreo, má, Kirsten no me miró hoy, má, me voy a casar con Kirsten. Y luego, me mostró esta declaración escrita. Me dió tanta ternura pensar como estaba cayendo por una chica por primera vez. Sin embargo, me revolvió sentimientos encontrados acerca de como reaccionará el y las chicas sin discapacidad a sus enamoramientos. Hasta los once años que tiene nunca se ha sentido ¨diferente¨. Kirsten no tiene discapacidad

 

¿Cómo explicarle que no todas las chicas estarán interesadas en el y más difícil aún,  que muchas-la mayoría de las chicas sin discapacidad no estarán interesadas en el?

Lo querrán pero según las ¨normas¨ de la sociedad, no como el quisiera que lo quieran.

¿Cómo evitarle el dolor del rechazo y más dificil de digerir aun, del rechazo porque tiene síndrome de Down?

Pues la mejor manera de explicarle a el ha sido en términos simples y diciéndole que síndrome de Down o no síndrome de Down, encontrar una pareja que sea para siempre no es tarea fácil. Sin embargo,  le aseguré que Dios tiene a alguien muy especial para el. 

 

 Como madre de un chico con síndrome de Down entiendo que tendré un papel importante en integrarlo a grupos donde pueda forjar amistades y quizás hasta también más adelante, encontrar a su media naraja. El primer paso es abrir las puertas de las posibilidades porque contrario a lo que pensaba yo cuando Cameron era recien nacido, el amor de verdad entre personas con discapacidad intelectual sí es posible.

¿ No es así también entre la población en general?