Down Syndrome Teen Elected Prom King, Goes To College

Amy S.F. Lutz — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 21:23:00 GMT

I am a liberal, Jewish, pro-choice Democrat. I find Sarah Palin to be scarily conservative, excessively religious and alarmingly ignorant. I would never vote for any ticket she was on. I do, however, absolutely respect one thing about her: her decision not to abort her son with Down Syndrome, as 80% of parents do.

I never had to make that decision. But I do have a son with autism, and - like many parents of children with disabilities - have a big problem with the assumption that children who are less intelligent are somehow less human or deserving of life than "normal" kids. And more and more people with Down Syndrome are challenging those long-held beliefs all the time, by greatly exceeding society's expectations of what a "retarded" individual should be capable of achieving.

Take Zach Wincent, for example. This 19-year-old from Illinois hasn't let Down Syndrome keep him from racking up an impressive list of accomplishments, including being elected prom king, taking classes through the special needs program at Elgin Community College, coaching ice hockey, and working at Target.

Maybe, for some parents, working at Target isn't a high enough aspiration. I used to be one of those parents - before I had kids, I would imagine my future offspring and think, I don't care if they're cute, I just want them to be smart. But I've come to understand that even if my four typical kids go on to Ivy League educations and six-figure jobs, it's unlikely they'll make any greater contribution to society than their autistic brother, who's already inspired the college student who worked with him to go to graduate school and pursue research in autism. Maybe she will be the PhD who discovers the cure.

Now, my one great hope for all five of my kids is that they'll be happy. Zach Wincent seems really happy. And would anyone really suggest that his happy life is not just as valuable and important and inspiring as anyone else's?

Wincent Family Photo

Can a Mom be 'Too Dumb' to Parent?
Too Dumb to Parent: Part 2

Putting Swollen Ankles into Perspective

Amy Kuras — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 19:34:00 GMT

I'm one of those people who firmly believe pregnancy sucks. I've been lucky, both times, to experience mild nausea, major insomnia and swollen ankles and that's about it. And yet, oh did I complain.

Had I read this article in the New York Times on cancer during pregnancy, I hope would have been shamed into shutting right up. Because as uncomfortable and sometimes outright miserable as pregnancy is, the prospect of facing your own mortality, the possibility of harming your baby, and the hell that is cancer treatment all at once is something no one should have to go through.

But they do – as women conceive children later in life they are also running into disease that tend to strike people later, such as cancer, during their pregnancies. Also, the normal life cycle of a woman's childbearing years has changed. It used to be that girls started their periods around 13 to 15 years of age and then went into menopause in their late 30s – now, puberty can begin as early as 9 years old and menopause typically occurs around age 50. Exposure to hormone shifts for longer might be causing more cancer.

Interestingly, while doctors typically suggest therapuetic abortion because it makes the cancer easier to treat aggressively, cancer treatment while pregnant is possible. Even the most pessimistic studies show that chemo causes birth defects in 14 to 19 percent of cases, and other studies show them in only 4 percent.

In any case, it's a terrifying thing to face and the women profiled just amazed me. Anybody who thinks women are weaker just isn’t paying attention.

Strollerderby : therapeutic abortion

Down Syndrome Teen Elected Prom King, Goes To College

Putting Swollen Ankles into Perspective