Down Syndrome poems/songs/stories

[simba928]

For my health class, I need to do a HUGE "life issues" project. I chose Down Syndrome for my topic. Part of this project is finding a poem, song, or story about your topic. I also have to create my own poem, song, or story. I am looking for some poems and stories on the internet, but I thought I would see if any of you knew any good poems, songs, or stories about Down Syndrome. It can be about anything, as long as it has something to do with Down Syndrome and is "school appropriate". Any help would be greatly appreciated! TIA!!!

Also, if any of you happen to know any good, reliable websites, it would be awesome if you could give me a link!

 

[ChrisnSteph]

The first one that comes to mind is this. Not really a poem, but a short story.

WELCOME TO HOLLAND
by
Emily Perl Kingsley.

c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

 

[LJC1861]

There is a beautiful song called " Danny's Down's" by Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary and I believe it is on their "Flowers and Stones" album. It may also be on " Songs of Conscience and Concern" on that album as well is a song called " Don't Laugh at Me" and while it is not specific to Down's is all about acceptance of all people. It is widely used in anti-bullying campaigns.

There is an essay called " Welcome to Holland" that I believe was published in either Ann Landers or Dear Abby's columns. It is about what you might feel like to have a Down's child. Not what you expected, but wonderful just the same. I have a copy somewhere and if I can find it will post it. You might be able to track it down on the internet.

You may also want to see if any episodes of " Life Goes On" are available on DVD. One of the main characters had Down's and the series centered around him.

Hope this helps!

Linda

 

[kdibattista]

Not sure exactly what you are looking for as a "story" but my sister has Down syndrome and I would be more then happy to answer any questions or try to be of some help.

 

[simba928]

Thanks ChrisnSteph! That is exactly the type of thing I need! I might read that to my class during my presentation!

 

[simba928]

Thanks LJC1861! I will look for those songs! It would be awesome if I find them and can play them for my class! And that is a really good idea to try and find "Life Goes On" on DVD.

kdibattista: Thanks for your offer to help! I'll PM you this weekend if you don't mind! I talked to a family friend whose daughter has Down Syndrome, but I would love to talk to you and get some info from a sibling's perspective!

 

[coinkc]

This isn't exactly about Down's Syndrome but...

there is a fabulous song out by a country singer (can't remember who) called "Don't Laugh At Me" The lyrics are phrases like "don't laugh at me, don't call me names, don't get your pleasure from my pain, in God's eyes we're all the same", etc. etc.

It is a beautiful song and might be a powerful way to end your presentation.

 

[coinkc]

Found it! The song is by Mark Wills in case you were interested. Here are the lyrics:

I'm a little boy with glasses
The one they call the geek
A little girl who never smiles
'Cause I've got braces on my teeth
And I know how it feels
To cry myself to sleep

I'm that kid on every playground
Who's always chosen last
A single teenage mother
Tryin' to overcome my past
You don't have to be my friend
But is it too much to ask

Don't laugh at me
Don't call me names
Don't get your pleasure from my pain
In God's eyes we're all the same
Someday we'll all have perfect wings
Don't laugh at me

I'm the cripple on the corner
You've passed me on the street
And I wouldn't be out here beggin'
If I had enough to eat
And don't think I don't notice
That our eyes never meet

I lost my wife and little boy when
Someone crossed that yellow line
The day we laid them in the ground
Is the day I lost my mind
And right now I'm down to holdin'
This little cardboard sign...so

Don't laugh at me
Don't call me names
Don't get your pleasure from my pain
In God's eyes we're all the same
Someday we'll all have perfect wings
Don't laugh at me

I'm fat, I'm thin, I'm short, I'm tall
I'm deaf, I'm blind, hey, aren't we all
Don't laugh at me
Don't call me names
Don't get your pleasure from my pain
In God's eyes we're all the same
Someday we'll all have perfect wings
Don't laugh at me

 

[Disney Doll]

There's a song by Irish entertainer Phil Coulter which is called "Scorn Not His Simplicity" which is about mental retardation.

You might also want to google Downs Syndrome and see what comes up. The National Downs Syndrom Scoiety probably has some good info. Also try the Special Olympics.

 

[LMC]

The Special Mother by Erma Bombeck is a great poem but it is about disabilities not Down Syndrome specifically.

 

[bigbabyblues]

Found it! The song is by Mark Wills in case you were interested. Here are the lyrics:

Coinkc--that song always makes me cry. It was played at the funeral of my co-workers' grandson who had cancer; I think he was 8.

 

[kdibattista]

kdibattista: Thanks for your offer to help! I'll PM you this weekend if you don't mind! I talked to a family friend whose daughter has Down Syndrome, but I would love to talk to you and get some info from a sibling's perspective!

No problem although I work Saturday and Sunday so I may not be able to get back to you right away

 

[WDWAurora]

www.ndss.org National Down's Syndrome Society or something like that-I used it for a paper, very reliable and GREAT amounts of info on there.

 

[jan/cape]

My daughters and I keep a journal in which we write anything that we find funny, moving, poems etc.
This is a passage from a book about a mom's experience with her pregnancy with a son with down's. I found it very moving. I loved this book!

Excerpt from
Expecting Adam by Martha Beck

You must bear in mind that these therapists had chosen to work with "different" children, While the parents in question had had the experience thrust upon them. I'm certainly not one to judge them. I've had a hard enough time learning to handle difference without discount, to look beneth the surface. I do feel sad, though for parents who might have had an opportunity to learn a new way of seeing, to look into the magical part of life, and let it pass by. Then again, it may be that not all disabled children can do this. Maybe it's just Adam himself. In his strange, not-quite-human way, he is constantly reminding me that real magic doesn't come from achieving the perfect appearance, from being Cinderella at the ball with both glass slippers and a killer hairstyle. The real magic is in the pumpkin, in the mice, in the moonlight; not beyond ordinary life, but within it.