Down Syndrome Parenting

Blessing or Addiction? Remember when I wrote about my son’s wonderful ability to message me and everyone else through FB? Jonathan is 32, has Down syndrome, reads and spells like a champ, [...]

What are we teaching our kids? Our teens? As a teacher, this is what I often see when a desperate parent brings a teen to me because he/she missed the reading boat: I see a learner who was pushed [...]

I wrote a few months ago about how Jonathan’s discovery of Facebook messaging changed his ability to communicate. It has also added a real-time spark to our relationship. Jonathan (32, Down [...]

My son Jonathan (32, Down syndrome) leaned forward in the truck so the traffic cop could see him. “I don’t have time for this!” Jonathan declared. The policeman leaned in to get [...]

Here’s a “never plateau!” story My son Jonathan (32, Down syndrome plus other variables) has had a Facebook page for 2 years. He asked for it, I put it up for him. But he [...]

“No!” Jonathan was 18 months old (with Down syndrome) and now refused to learn anything. He stimmed and mentally “went away.” He was not autistic, but he was trying hard [...]

WHAT DO THEY SEE? Much of the difficulty our children have with learning to read has to do with how that material LOOKS to them. But how do we know how it looks to them? Doesn’t it look the [...]

After I posted the “Christmas at Eleven” article, about Jonathan’s dictated contribution to the family Christmas newsletter, I realized what a huge part of Jonathan’s day [...]

  Our Smart Cookies My involvement as a mother (Jonathan, DS, 31) and as a teacher (of reading, exclusively to DS) combines to make me a fierce defender of our kids’ abilities and potential. [...]

This isn’t a “how to teach reading” post. My blog page is chock-full of detailed articles on how to do that. Just use the search box to the right and have fun with it. No, this [...]