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Down Syndrome NSW
Level 6/410 Church St, North Parramatta
9am-5pm Monday - Thursday
T: 9841 444


Thursday 24 May 2012

'My boy is going to high school, and I'm terrified'

Mia Freedman's website MamaMia has a very large and broad readership - congratulations to Sam Paior from Adelaide, on her article published there yesterday, about her excitement and fears as her 12 year old, Ben, prepares for high school next year.  It has generated a lot of comment - most of it encouraging, all of it thoughtful:


Ben is twelve, going on seventeen. He is hairy, smelly, eats more than I can afford, and likes to laze around on his bed, watching YouTube videos and listening to music. He also whinges when I tell him to practise his bass guitar, but then plays for hours at a time. He regularly walks in the house with the mud dribbling off his soccer boots onto my (inevitably) recently vacuumed hallway.

He goes to our local primary school, in Grade six, but soon enough, it will be time for high school. He’s excited about the prospect. We’ve looked at a few schools together, but the one he loves is the one I went to, as well as his Nana, Great-Grandma and Great-Great-Grandfather. I suspect he’ll be the first of the fifth generation at the school. The principal told me he thought Ben would be “an asset to the school”. He’ll also be the first with Down syndrome.

He’s not scared at all. I’m terrified ...

... read on here for Sam's article, and the comments.

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