Humiliated though? I must say in 10 years of working with families, that has not been a prevalent thought. Devastated for the loss of the child we dreamed about and the perfect child that everyone “thinks” they are having. The perfect child that is driven by the American illusion of perfection.

This is why it is so important to have local parent support groups and early intervention there to help families one step at a time and one day at a time. Research overwhelmingly shows the positive benefits. And… it is why we need strong people like Sarah Palin and others who do have the stage to help us with Positive Public Awareness about the abilities and inherent worth of individuals with disabilities.

Kudos to Mr. Shriver for his insightful thoughts.

I just read another editorial in US News “Top US Hospitals” about this notion we have defining “quality of life” for others and why it’s less for people who have disability labels.

The challenge all families face is the availablity of education/quality care programs that assist our children into adulthood.

We’ve failed horribly there as a nation. Instead of putting them into private institutions like we did long ago, we’ve put them out into a mainstream where they are still stigmatized and locked out from many opportunities.

Instead of being institutionalized, they are now marginalized. And Trig? Let’s just hope his parents are smart enough to help him chisel out that niche we all hope our children find as adults.

I have noticed increasingly in recent years, with the increasing pressure for pregnant women to test for – and eliminate – fetuses with Down Syndrome (as well as, of course, any other disability that can be diagnosed in utero), new parents feel like (and are sometimes made to feel this way by the medical establishment) they have failed.

Even loving, accepting parents of infants with Down’s are traumatized by the birth of a child with a disability. I know we were – I assume you are a mother too, and perhaps you immediately assimilated your journey to Holland. It took us a couple of months to realize we were on the road to a very great adventure and not to a neverending tragedy.

I’ll give some background: when I receive a request to meet new parents, it is not because of me, but because of our daughter who is extremely “high-functioning” (a patronizing term if ever there was one) and largely independent. She is also lovely, articulate, witty and charming… if I do say so myself! A number of pediatricians in our region know about her and call on us to help give a more positive image of Down’s to new parents who have reacted in a very negative fashion to their child’s birth.

None of the parents I have counselled knew prior to birth that the baby had Down’s and all were born to parents under the age of 35.

After our “sessions” – I hate to generalize – but maybe half of them are more open and more accepting and more willing to work on early intervention and make a difference in the developmental level of their child. The other half? Depressing.

Sarah Palin’s “flaunting” of Trig was marvelous and even if I don’t agree with her politically, she’s a great role model for new mothers to scream from the rooftops that their baby is a perfect baby, too – just not a standard model.

As for my criticisms of Barack Obama: I voted for the guy, I’ll criticize him if I want to. He needs to seriously address disability rights if he’s going to get my vote in 2012.

There is as much diversity among parents of children with Down syndrome as in any other group – politically and in every other way – but I do think that our children sharing this particular diagnosis is enough to inspire us to stand together in advocacy and support of them and all individuals with Down syndrome, especially for adults who have no one to speak up for them.

I am as surprised by the comments of those who despise Sarah Palin as I am by the comments of those who despise our President, Barack Obama. I believe our children need all the allies they can find, and alienating anyone who represents a different political party or other point of view does not seem an effective way to build a more inclusive community for our sons and daughters.

We certainly cannot blame baby Trig Palin for dividing America. That’s all the work of grown-ups with their own agendas. Making bizarre negative blanket statements about how all parents of babies with Down syndrome feel is also counter-intuitive. I do not believe that parents of children of color feel humiliated and stigmatized bringing that child into the world because there is racism in the culture. As parents I believe we are a proud and fiercely protective group whose children amaze us and bring us joy from the start.

I too am a pro-choice liberal who is radically opposed to eugenics – which the abortion of fetuses with Down’s is.

When Sarah Palin “paraded” (as Ivy claimed) Trig at the Republican National Convention tears of pride poured down my cheeks (and believe me, I’m a hardnose). Her open attitude towards Trig reflected the attitudes of so many ‘evolved’ parents and must have been an affront to so many – the medical establishment first and foremost – who consider giving birth to a child who doesn’t have the standard number of chromosomes, an act of social provocation.

As a liberal Democrat, I was horrified to read all the hate mail on the liberal websites I had always visited: Huffington Post being the vilest. The Huffington Post seemed to encourage all the hate – they censor posts they don’t agree with. The Huffington Post was – and is – the No. 1 Obama fansite.

I’m personally still waiting to hear President Obama’s apology about the Special Olympics. Good thing, I’m not holding my breath.

What I was trying to say in that post was that, again, and again, and again, and again, Sarah Palin’s child leads to the discussion of pro-life vs pro-choice, not to any of the issues I brought up in the last paragraph of my original post. I find the ability of some hard line pro-life supporters to point to Trig for their cause again and again but then never stand up for the true interests of people, children and adults, with Down syndrome sickening. And to end a comment with ‘the press isn’t mean to the Obama kids like they are the Palin kids’, I feel extremely validated in that sickening feeling.

What are some of the things Sarah Palin has done for Down syndrome. I know when she was in my city, she spoke a lot about autism, as she did in her debate, which is a hot-button issue. But Im strapped to find her truely discussing Down syndrome in the same manner. She is a HUGE personality, and I don’t see her with the NDSS, I don’t see her with the NDSC, I don’t see her anywhere. I do, on the other hand, see John C. McGinley, taking advantage of his celebrity to become the spokesperson of the Buddy Walk and wearing a Down syndrome awareness wristband on every episode of Scrubs on ABC in Primetime.

The fact that you and your wife have a son with Down syndrome despite being pro-choice liberals doesn’t have anything to do with Sarah Palin’s “true pro-life” values.

Given the 80%-plus women who opt to exercise their “choice” given a pre-natal diagnosis of Down syndrome, I’d say she and her husband qualify as being true to their pro-life stance.

I’m sure there have been many pro-lifers who changed their minds when confronted with the same scenario and it would’ve been very easy for the Palins to do the same.

Whether it was intentional or not, the fact that Trig Palin has Down syndrome has raised more awareness and on a far greater scale – both good and bad – than I can recall in my daughter’s six years.

I’m not entirely sure what great things she has done for the Down syndrome community either, if anything I would point to someone like John C McGinley as being a true champion for down syndrome issues. I think more than anything, when people find something that they can use to support their cause, they beat the drum non-stop.

I find a lot of people are less concerned with baby Trig having Down syndrome as they are with Sarah Palin electing to not have an abortion. I think if anything, this makes those people closer to those making “hateful remarks” about Palin’s daughter’s pregnancy than they realize. Instead of Down syndrome being the reason to champion pro-life agendas, extremists on the other side have used the “perceived” lack of parenting on Palin’s behalf to champion their thought that she would not be able to govern a country.

And if you disagree, then where are all of the posts about Trig opening up questions about the lack of funding for special needs programs, about there needing to be more access to early intervention programs, about improvements in schools for special education, about more infromation to parents about the health issues that often accompany down syndrome? All I see is a lot of “people are mean to the pro-life vp candidate, and they’re not mean to the Obama kids.” How sad.

The attacks against her kids started as soon as she was selected as McCain’s running mate…people spread vicious and bizarre rumors about Trig’s parentage. When she made a statement announcing her daughter’s pregnancy, many people were extremely hateful in their remarks.

Kids are kids…lots of good parents have kids who do dumb things, but the parents don’t abandon them because of that. Sarah Palin shows what true pro-life principles are all about, and some people just can’t grasp that concept, so they attack her.

It really ticks me off when people blame the Palins for the way the media savaged their kids. The Obama kids have had plenty of media coverage..none of it has been critical..they have gone to many public events, but their parents have never been accused of ‘parading’ them around. So why are the Palin kids seen as fair game?