{"id":529,"date":"2011-02-02T12:45:31","date_gmt":"2011-02-02T12:45:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thinplaces\/2011\/02\/perfectly-human-reflections-on-down-syndrome.html"},"modified":"2011-02-02T12:45:31","modified_gmt":"2011-02-02T12:45:31","slug":"perfectly-human-reflections-on-down-syndrome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/2011\/02\/perfectly-human-reflections-on-down-syndrome.html","title":{"rendered":"Perfectly Human: Reflections on Down Syndrome"},"content":{"rendered":"
Last week, “Perfectly Human” featured a reflection by a Mary Ann Jansen<\/a>. She described the process of leading a writer’s circle for adults with Down Syndrome. Today, Mary Ann agreed to share some of the reflections these adults offered to the questions:<\/span>
<\/span><\/p>\n

What is Down Syndrome?  How would you explain it to people?<\/span><\/p>\n

How do you live with it? What challenges do you have? What do you want people to know?  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Responses taken from <\/span>Writing Our Lives<\/span> by adults with Down Syndrome.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>
\"jackirettig.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>Parents who have children with Down Syndrome might have children who struggle with stuttering. People with Down Syndrome have difficulties when they have an extra chromosome like I have. It’s never easy to have Down Syndrome because they might not speak that good. They need all the love. That is how life works with or without Down Syndrome. I have it and I turned out ok. \t<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/span> – <\/span><\/span>Jackie Rettig<\/span><\/span><\/span>
<\/span><\/font><\/span> \t<\/span>\t<\/span>\t<\/span>\t<\/span>\t<\/span>\t<\/span>                                                <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span>
Dear Everyone,<\/span>
I want respect from people. Do not judge me for who I am. People in society now a days, think they know everything but I’m here to tell you that you don’t. I want people to know that I am just a regular person who happens to have Down Syndrome. Sometimes some people are confused when they see me. They don’t see what I see. I’m just a regular person who happens to be a people person. Do not be so judgmental. I am a likable person who works at a regular job and will stay there.        \t<\/span>\t<\/span>\t<\/span> – <\/span>Bob Effler<\/span>
<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n


\n\"chadmayer.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>Down Syndrome is a chromosome we all have but there is an extra one. It is something really special. We were born that way. It’s a gift from God. That is why it is so cool to have and no one can judge me on my disability, on Down Syndrome. No one can judge on it. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/span>– <\/span><\/span>Chad Mayer<\/span><\/span>\t<\/span>\t<\/span>\t<\/span>\t<\/span>\t<\/span>\t<\/span>\t<\/span>\t<\/span>\t<\/span>\t<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/span>
<\/span><\/p>\n
Down Syndrome is when an extra 21 chromosome is in someone. They might have health problems like a heart problem.<\/span>
I use to deal with teasing and being bullied when I was in school. I really want to be treated like everyone else because I feel like I am being rejected by everyone. <\/span><\/div>\n
– Lauren Froh<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/font><\/span><\/span><\/span>
<\/span>To read more excerpts like these you can purchase <\/span><\/span>Writing Our Lives <\/span><\/span>here.<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, “Perfectly Human” featured a reflection by a Mary Ann Jansen. She described the process of leading a writer’s circle for adults with Down Syndrome. Today, Mary Ann agreed to share some of the reflections these adults offered to the questions: What is Down Syndrome?  How would you explain it to people? How do…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,1,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-disability","category-down-syndrome","category-perfectly-human"],"yoast_head":"\nPerfectly Human: Reflections on Down Syndrome - Thin Places<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/2011\/02\/perfectly-human-reflections-on-down-syndrome.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Perfectly Human: Reflections on Down Syndrome - Thin Places\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last week, “Perfectly Human” featured a reflection by a Mary Ann Jansen. 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Two major life experiences have shaped her writing and her faith\u00e2\u20ac\u201dcaring for her mother-in-law as she battled cancer and welcoming her daughter Penny into the world after she was diagnosed at birth with Down syndrome. Both experiences expanded and enriched her understanding of what it means to be human and to receive each and every person as a gift.\u00c2\u00a0 A graduate of Princeton University and Princeton Theological Seminary, she is the author of Penelope Ayers: A Memoir, and the forthcoming A Good and Perfect Gift (Bethany House). Her essays have appeared in First Things, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Christian Century, ChristianityToday.com, and Bloom, among other online venues.","sameAs":["http:\/\/amyjuliabecker.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/author\/amyjuliabecker"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/88"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}