What do my kids think about Down syndrome?

Here we are half way through the month, and I pretty much failed miserably at posting every day.  I'm ok with that, though, because there have been a lot of other really good posts going around.  Part of me doesn't like singling out certain posts, because there have been a ton of good ones. A few that you just can't miss are:

What fuels the helicopter?

An anchor for your soul. (Not Down syndrome specific, but still good.  And if you happen to read this Patti, I'm patiently waiting for the next post : )   )

Why I'm not a good hero.

 

And The Hailey Herald and My Stubborn Little Miss have been faithful to blogging every day and giving a nice glimpse into life with their adorable, sassy girls.  Bravo, ladies.

 

 

Now, on to what my kids think about Down syndrome.

 

I decided to ask Madison some questions about Down syndrome to see what she would say.  Since Kamdyn was a baby, we have talked about Down syndrome, gone to meetings and activities with our local group, and freely used the words Down syndrome and disability.  It has never been a big deal.  For the most part, I have not shared too many details of what I think Down syndrome is, because, really, it's just that:  what I think.  I decided to just let us live our lives, and let my children learn about Down syndrome by living with someone with Down syndrome, while I learn about it myself.  My kids know that Kamdyn goes to therapy, but I have never told them that she goes to therapy because she has Down syndrome.  I assumed that they would think that on their own, but I'm not sure that they do after this little video I took.

  

As you can see, I was really trying to drag something out of her, but I got nothing.  It's SO not a big deal to her.  After I stopped recording, she did say "We go to Down syndrome camp."  So that's the only thing she thinks we do specifically, because Kamdyn has Down syndrome.

Madison and Austin definitely know that Kamdyn needs more help with certain things.  A couple of weeks ago, I told them that Kamdyn was going to start going to the Wednesday night program at church soon.  Her and Austin will be in the same group.  Immediately, they told me that I needed to be careful and make sure I watch her, because she might run off.  And Austin was concerned about Kamdyn getting hurt when they play dodge ball at game time.  So they recognize some limitations, but they don't associate those with Down syndrome.  I actually find how their minds work interesting. 

I know that as my kids get older, there will be more conversations about Down syndrome, what it means, how people treat Kamdyn, the r-word, and so on.  But for now, we're keeping it simple.  And I'm not saying that how we have gone about this is the "right" way.  There is no right and wrong.  Each family has to approach this the way that works best for your family.  Some children may be more inquisitive and ask more questions or the child may be older and need more explanation.  It just depends. 

If I can get it together, I'm going to do another video with Austin and see what he says.