How Far We've Come

We had our 6 month check up with our favorite developmental pediatrician last week. Like I've mentioned in before posts, he is my absolute favorite doctor. He is always positive and very energetic. I never leave there feeling sad for the things Cameron isn't doing, because he always makes sure to point out how well he is doing in certain areas. So since our last checkup six months ago, Cameron has made significant progress. He is now walking......and running. He is using 3-4 word sentences. He can recognize most of his letters, all of his colors and is answering questions like a pro. The doc was very impressed at what he's accomplished in the past 6 months (not as much as I am) and said that cognitively, Cameron is not far off his age. We already knew that. The doc was very excited to tell me this and also to mention that while people assume that children with DS are always affected with severe intellectual disability, this is simply not true. He told us of a boy who just graduated high school with a regular diploma and now works a "regular" job. It was touching for me to see his excitement when he told me of this. It was far more touching when he teared up telling me that when this particular child was born, his mother was told to put him in an institution. While I'm glad that it is no longer standard to tell parents to place their children in institutions, I'm still saddened that there aren't more doctors out there like ours. If there were, perhaps there would not be so many people choosing abortion when they get a diagnosis of DS.