Quite the Hiker

We took Courtney on her first back-packing overnight hike. We hiked to Bassi Falls in El Dorado National Forest. She carried a backpack with her water and snacks. She hiked the one mile in. She loved it. We set up camp and slept overnight. Courtney even had to use the potty in the woods and did it just fine. The next day we hiked the mile out. She did the hike all on her own and had a great time.

We also took Courtney and our family for a day trip to Yosemite. She hiked one mile in and out to Yosemite Falls. That was flat for the most part. Then after lunch we hiked the .8 rigorous hike up to the bridge on the misty trail. She hiked that up and down all by herself. It was really hard, but the idea of pizza and ice cream for dinner kept her going.

I am so proud of her for doing hard things. She is so strong and even when it gets tough, she keeps going. She loves going on hikes with her family.

Lost Tooth

Courtney lost her 2nd front top tooth. Now she has an adorable jack-o-lantern grin!

Creative and Cute

Courtney is so creative! She found gloves I had been using to clean and decided to become a duck. She waddled around the house for almost an hour being a duck. What a cutie!

Kindergarten Promotion

Courtney attended Las Floras Independent Study program this year for Kindergarten. It is a home-school program run by the Elk Grove School District. This last week, they held a promotion ceremony for the 6th Grade students and the Kindergarten students. There were 3 Kindergarten students promoting and 8 6th graders (of which only 3 showed up). It was the sweetest little ceremony. The teachers brought up one student at a time and talked about them. Then they presented them with a candy bar gram that talked all about them and things the teacher liked about them this year (I will try to get a picture of Courtney's and post it-it was really cute!). Then the students and families had snacks.
This is her teacher, Mrs. Clements. Courtney really worked well with her. We appreciated her patients with Courtney and how much she helped the transition from traditional school to home-study go good. We would meet with her every two weeks to turn in the work that we had finished and to get our assignments for the next two weeks. We will miss seeing her regularly. Courtney was able to keep up with the traditional kindergarten class work. Her biggest accomplishment this year was learning how to read. She loves to read and is now asking me how to fingerspell (ASL) everything! We are really proud of all the progress she made this school year.
Congratulations Courtney!

Letter

Today I filled out a medical form for Courtney to participate in a certain therapy. I was surprised that the form (in several places) said, "the Down Syndrome child", or similar wording.
Person First
When we state the person first, we acknowledge that they are people just like we are. They may have conditions that make them unique (just like anyone), but they are still people. The above statement SHOULD have said "the child with Down Syndrome".
Other Examples:
Good: My friend Sara who has Down Syndrome
Bad: My Down Syndrome friend, Sara
Good: The girl with Down Syndrome
Bad: The Down Syndrome girl
Good: People with Down Syndrome
Bad: Down Syndrome people
Good: My sister has Down Syndrome
Bad: My Down Syndrome sister
Good: She has a child with Down Syndrome
Bad: She has a Down Syndrome child
This goes for all people. It is offensive to talk about anyone using their disability first. Instead, think of them as people first who have a disability. I wouldn't say my paralyzed friend-instead I would say, my friend who is paralyzed.

So what did I do? I wrote a very polite letter informing the organization about how the form could be improved and I will include it with my paperwork when I turn it in.

Just something to be aware of and for you to teach your children about.

The BSA has a great merit badge that has a little book that talks about this concept. I thought that their explanation of things was very well written. It was a good resource for me.

I Found The Name!

See post below titled "All Clear"
Medical studies have demonstrated that approximately 10% of individuals with Down Syndrome have a condition of the upper spine call Atlantoaxial Subluxation.

The Weight of Words