On April 19, 1983 we heard these words from a doctor, “I believe your newborn son has Down’s Syndrome. I encourage you to take him home from the hospital, but he probably won’t be able to go to school, run, read or write.” Those words were very sobering concerning our son’s prognosis. They were also…
By Lyn Waldeck Our story, which by no means is at its end, began in the mountains. To be specific the Transylvanian Mountains. During Christmas of 1990, a specific child was brought to our attention that was in desperate need of a family. Florin Valc, who later became our son Evan Waldeck, had spent the…
Beverly G. As of March 2001 NACD has helped my autistic daughter make incredible progress over the past fourteen months. I believe it is nothing short of a miracle. My daughter Celeste was diagnosed as mildly autistic when she was 4 years old, but I had known for some time that she had delays. She…
Stephanie seemed to arrive on this earth like an angel without wings to fly. This blonde-hair blue eyed child passed routinely through her early years with hardly a spoken word to anyone. Her outward behavior appeared normal for one her age, yet her continual lack of speech and the inability to comprehend even the simplest…
by Robert J. Doman Jr. In order to determine appropriate treatment approaches for children with Down Syndrome (DS), one must first, look at “normal” development, and then explore how and why the DS population differs. When considering language acquisition we encounter historic problems that are not dissimilar from those of any of our special…
by Robert J. Doman, Jr. In 1972 I sent my first Down Syndrome child off to her first day of school, in regular class, in a “normal” public school with “normal” expectations, and no special services. Linda was entering first grade, having spent two years with me at the George Crother’s Memorial School. Linda entered…
My story begins on June 7, 1992, when my husband and I received a call about a baby born in another state with Down Syndrome. On June 8, 1992, at approximately 2 p.m., one of the most beautiful babies I had ever seen was placed in my arms. As I looked into his beautiful blue…
Paul and Ann Stephens As I write this account, it is the day after Thanksgiving, 1996. How far we’ve come. How thankful we are that we found NACD. On August 23, 1993, our son, Camron, was hit by a car while riding his bicycle. He sustained serious head injuries and was comatose for four months….
Luke was diagnosed as hearing impaired at the age of 11 months. At 2 years of age an Auditory Brain Stem Evoked Response (ABR) showed him to have a severe loss in the right ear and a profound loss in the left ear. We went the conventional route with homebound therapy until age 3, then…
It is the desire of every parent for their children to receive the best possible education. We even choose homes that are located in the finest school districts. Educational needs of our children, from infancy on, become paramount. Most families, like us, have not felt the need to investigate alternatives to the traditional school systems…