Karen and Caleb: Down Syndrome Spotlight
Karen is the mother of four children, the youngest of which has down syndrome. Caleb is 13 years old and was diagnosed at birth with 2 heart conditions and Trisomy-21, which is the most common of the three forms of down syndrome. It was a scary time for his family, but luckily one of his heart issues closed naturally on its own.
Rather than focusing on the negatives, Karen focused on loving and appreciating her newborn baby. As a baby, he started therapy and school early to give him the experience of being with other children. He struggles intellectually and physically, but going to therapy early and gaining more experience has helped him grow to be very outgoing and friendly to everyone around him.
Caleb is also extremely involved in a variety of different hobbies. For starters, he is very active and partakes in multiple sports. In the future, he is looking into trying out triathlons. One of Karen’s favorite moments was when she went on a 4 mile run with him; seeing his perseverance and strength was incredibly inspiring. Cooking is another one of Caleb passions. Every week, he does a Facebook Cooking Live.
Aside from these hobbies, Caleb is also a part of modeling agencies; he has done stock images and is as well involved with a down syndrome awareness organization. As companies realize the need for diversity and ability levels, more opportunities for modelling are available for everyone. Focusing on what he enjoys doing has been extremely helpful for Caleb and his family.
Understanding situations and communications is a struggle for Caleb; however, this is something that is simply a daily learning experience. In terms of parenting, Karen felt that there were differences from their other children. With Caleb, they had to consider safety, health, future, and therapy concerns along with others.
Caleb is a very positive and confident person, but exclusion and negative reactions from outside people can sometimes be disheartening. To combat this, Karen emphasizes how important it is to implement a mindset that turns the negatives into positives.
Karen explains that one of the biggest aspects of accepting people of different ability levels is inclusion. Having early exposure as a kid is very effective. Karen hopes that we can all recognize that we are more similar than we are different, and knowing this helps us become a more accepting and loving place for everyone.
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