From the Detroit Free Press:

Reacting to Sarah Palin’s candidacy, Anne White O’Hara of Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, says the needs of children with Down syndrome vary widely.

O’Hara’s son Tom had medical issues that required a lot of time in his early years. O’Hara is a history professor at Marygrove College in Detroit. Her employer provided accommodations by supporting family leave during one semester and reduced workloads another two semesters. Tom, who has Down syndrome, is now a “chatty and optimistic 12-year-old.”

“People say, ‘How did you balance it?’ Well it wasn’t a balance, it was a struggle … I chose to focus on Tom and my daughter Julia. That meant saying no to finishing the PhD. That meant stepping down as department chair. That meant no more long conference trips like I did when I was single. You change and adapt your focus on career.

See also:

Families welcome spotlight on Down syndrome – San Francisco Chronicle

(Detroit Free Press photo)

This entry was posted on Monday, September 15th, 2008 at 3:17 pm and is filed under Campaign 2008, Down syndrome, families, personal stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.