Below Average

At 3 a.m. about three weeks ago, I realized that my daughter, Ellie, is 4 years old. Next year she will be 5 years old. At 5 years old, she will be old enough to start kindergarten. I’ve been wondering how this happened ever since. “Sometimes I really don’t like being Ellie’s mom,” I said…

Best-Case Scenario

“Once she was born I was never not afraid,” said writer Joan Didion about her daughter. Children make me nervous. All of them, and they always have. Even my own. One, out of all of the children in the world, terrifies me. She strikes a physical fear reaction in my body. Because of her, I…

Who is the benefactor here?

If I’m honest, one thing that I am self-conscious about is what Ellie’s capacity to one day contribute to society will be. Along with the intellectual and physical delays, it would be easy for someone to look at her and see that she is different than most. There is a camp of people out there…

Extraordinary: An Ordinary Day in the Special Life of Anna Caroline Strickland

By Heather Honaker “I always knew that I was different from other kids,” says Anna Caroline Strickland. “[My mom] likes to tell this story when one day in kindergarten I got in the car from school, and I was like ‘Mom am I handicapped or something?’ because a little girl had said that to me…

Why can’t you be more like Ellie?

Even though she has an undesired, greatly feared disability, I sure do think, “Why can’t you be more like Ellie?” a lot. I was scared of her before she was born. If I’m being honest, I am still scared of her. I obsess about her Down syndrome making her seem less than everyone else. I…

Heart-Swelling Pride

Ellie was standing on the curb when I got to her school to pick her up yesterday afternoon. I had to stop the car in the middle of the drive when I saw her. She was standing with the help of her little red walker, her hands gripping the handles. She was wearing her leg…