Thanks to everyone that has supported Sam. I hope that I am making a difference in my small way. I've been asked a lot about "why" I started the Sam Series.
There are so many reasons, but first and for most would be to create hope and expectations for parents, siblings and society. Dev and Sue went to their first NDSC convention a few years ago and heard Karen Gaffney state:
“I am not the exception, I am the possibility”.
I think that is the same reason we wanted to have a literary figure for others to have in mind.
When you are a new parent you believe everything is possible. Your child will grow up to understand physics like Hawking, sing like Barbara, play in the NFL like Elway, create like Oprah, be a doctor/lawyer/teacher … As the child grows into their own person those hopes and dreams get modified and the parent (hopefully) starts to consider realistic dreams for that child: college, family, a job…happiness… When you get an early diagnosis it seems all of those hopes and dreams are sucked into a vortex of doom. The dreams turn to worries. Our hope is to help keep those dreams alive for parents, kids and society.
If we can help society change its viewpoint from measuring things someone can not do, to valuing ABILITY and appreciating differences each of us brings, than we will be happy.
The stories in the “Sam” series are fictional, but every thing that Sam does in the books is something our daughter Dev has done in real life. Does that mean every child with Down syndrome will be able to do the things that Sam does, of course not, every child is different. But if you never knew about Anne Frank, Einstein, MLK, Mare Curie the list goes on and on, how limited our dreams would be. The stories written about these larger than life people expand our dreams and hopes for our own lives. Kind of lofty goals, but that is the reason for writing the books.
Sean Adelman, 14th November 2014
Thank you Sean!
- To contact Jo at the library, ph. 9841 4410, or email library@dsansw.org.au
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