When I Googled my website, I was found this article from the New York Times. When I read the first paragraph, I almost immediately renamed my site. It is hard to share anything with an article that starts that way, but it sparked to thoughts (and one other that I might save for another blog about choice).

The first thing that hops out at me is the word suffer. The definition of suffering is to experience or be subjected to something bad or unpleasant.  When William and I lived in the hospital for his complete AV canal defect and aorta repairs, I would agree that we were both subjected to something bad and unpleasant.  I just can’t wrap my head around the comment that someone suffers more than another because of the type of child they have. William and I know many friends who would take offense at the concept of the Down syndrome Effect, which suggests that the well-being of  families who have members in them with Down syndrome are better off than those who have, say autism.  How do scientists come up with that stuff?

It does bring to mind a funny story, though.  Once a friend of mine was talking to me about how intense it was for our mutual friend to raise her son. Boy did I agree, and I went on about how hard it must be, how challenging to not have a diagnosis, how challenging some of his mannerisms were. Wow! what an incredible woman she is to face the challenges of motherhood the way she does. It was when I said I could never do what she did, that I realized that my friend was staring at me with her mouth agape. Here I was the mother of William, spouting of praises to someone who, in her eyes was doing just what I was doing, maybe more, maybe less.

I forgot. I sometimes forget that William has Down syndrome. I am no heroine; I am just your average mom. Having William does not make me a superstar.

The truth in the New York Times article is miles away from my truth, but it reminds me why people’s impressions of others are often askew. I would never have found that article if I hadn’t named my blog The Truth Down Syndrome. The only reason why the domain name isn’t The Truth About William is because I thought putting Down syndrome in the title would bring more traffic to my site.