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Cameron's Story
....(With a little help from Mom) The experiential approach is one that focuses on the individual throughout their illness and analyzes how they make sense of it during, and after, as well as how they relay this experience to others. In many cases, this illness narrative is a form of therapy for the individual to tell their story, which is a why support groups are so effective. An illness narrative for this specific disease is quite different than your typical narrative, simply because a lot of the time a Down Syndrome individual does not fully understand that they have an illness, let alone make sense of it. In this case, I spent some time with my favorite little boy Cameron, and with the help of his mom, listened to “his” narrative. Although, really, I think that in this case, it is more of a family narrative than an individual one. For Cameron, his illness narrative is a perfect example of a quest narrative. His disability is seen as a journey, but not necessarily a bad thing, just different. It is an opportunity for their family to grow closer, grow in their faith, learn about and help others like Cameron, as well as give the world a chance to hear his story. This illness is one that started even before birth, a genetic condition in which Cameron had an extra copy of his twenty-first chromosome. His parents were not aware of this condition until the day he was born, and even though they knew this would be an adjustment they were so excited to have a beautiful baby boy. Although things were harder at times than they would be raising a non-DS child, like learning to speak, read, and play with others, it just made them have to work a little bit harder. Cameron has grown so much and made incredible bounds in his development. He reads stories to his parents and rides his big boy (two wheeled!) bike most days, and some of his favorite things to do are tubing behind the boat at their home, and playing games on the iPad, especially angry birds! Cameron’s parents believe that god has a reason for everything, and that Cameron was given this illness in order to make something good out of it. He is not treated different than any other child, and not only is he friends with many of his classmates at school, but they feel lucky and excited to get to spend time and learn from him. Cameron is happy and healthy, and his illness is not going to stop him from living life like he should. Although Cameron may not fully realize what his illness is, he and his family are making the best of it. His parents know that this will be an uphill battle for the rest of his life, and that he will have struggles, but they insist on looking at the positives that can come out of this. It should be an inspiration and motivation to all to be able to live a life as satisfying and happy as Cameron’s. |
Click below to read 25 year old Sarah's blog to see what her daily life is like living with Down Syndrome |
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