{"id":231338,"date":"2020-09-20T15:43:56","date_gmt":"2020-09-20T20:43:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=231338"},"modified":"2020-09-19T17:15:30","modified_gmt":"2020-09-19T22:15:30","slug":"book-parents-down-syndrome-unexpected-joys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/book-parents-down-syndrome-unexpected-joys\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Nobody Told Me’: Book tells parents of children with Down syndrome of unexpected joys"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Parents who receive a Down syndrome diagnosis for their child, whether prenatally or after birth, are often given an array of negative information. But a book from a Down syndrome advocacy group aims to reassure new parents with the reality that life with Down syndrome is much better than we’re often led to believe.<\/p>\n

The book, titled “Nobody Told Me<\/a>,” was created by Positive About Down Syndrome,<\/a> a parent-run advocacy group in the United Kingdom. “Nobody Told Me” is written by Down syndrome families \u2014 parents, siblings, grandparents \u2014 and shows how the things new parents are told about what to expect are based on ableist perception, not reality.<\/p>\n

Many of the parents in the book, which is available for free online, spoke of being pressured to have an abortion<\/a>, of their diagnoses being predicated with an “unfortunately,” or of being told only the negative things that come with Down syndrome. Yet overwhelmingly, the family members reported that life with the condition had many more positives than negatives.<\/p>\n