A Down Syndrome Adventure – Mercy for Marthas

A Life Worth Living: One Family Embraces Four Children with Down Syndrome

Published on March 26, 2024 by Mary Cooney1 Comment

A few months ago, my oldest son told me he has a friend who has seven siblings, four with Down Syndrome. As a mother of a large family who has one child with Down Syndrome, I was astounded. Five biological children, three adopted, four with Down Syndrome and homeschooling? “Peter,” I said to my son, “Please get me her number. I need to talk to that mom and tap into her wisdom.”

It took us a while to connect — Sonia McGarrity is, after all, a little busy. But once we did, we could have talked for hours about family life, homeschooling, and Trisomy 21. As we spoke, I realized that the story of this extraordinary family needed to be shared. So I asked Sonia if she would do an interview for Mercator. She graciously and generously agreed.

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Our Favorite Toys for Young Children with Down Syndrome

Published on December 12, 2023 by Mary CooneyLeave a comment

With Christmas around the corner, I know many of you are thinking what to get your kids for Christmas. So today I’m sharing with you some of our favorite toys with a focus on building problem solving skills, fine motor skills, and independent play. Helping our children develop problem solving skills and teaching them to persist at a task is so important. Many of our kids need extra practice with fine motor skills, and doing so in the context of play is always the most fun way! And finally sometimes we just need our kids to entertain themselves. Since I don’t give Junior any screen time at all, finding the right toys that will keep him independently occupied is such a big help.

So, here are some of our favorite toys for problem solving, fine motor skills, and independent play:

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How to Motivate Young Children with Down Syndrome

Published on September 25, 2023 by Mary Cooney2 Comments

Once a week, three little boys with T21 and their moms come to my house for a Down Syndrome Coop. It’s so much fun, as these little guys are so funny and lovable. But keeping them engaged and motivated is a major piece of work. Sometimes one of the boys will wander off in the middle of a story or activity. Sometimes one will lie on the floor and space out. Sometimes a child will flat-out refuse to try an activity. So behavior management and motivation has become a vital aspect of our work.

I think it is important not to underestimate the amount of effort our children have to expend to complete what we perceive to be basic and simple tasks. We need to remember that children with T21 often have several health issues including poor sleep and low muscle tone, which make them tire easily. Our children are not lazy; in fact they have to work harder than most people to complete ordinary jobs.

However, it’s also important not to underestimate their potential for learning, especially if we can motivate them.

So we work really hard to elicit cooperation and engagement through motivation.

Here are some of my most effective strategies for keeping my son and the boys in our T21 co-op engaged and motivated:

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Raising a Child with Down Syndrome: Life in the Last 48 Hours

Published on June 28, 2023 by Mary Cooney4 Comments

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to raise a child with Down Syndrome? A few years ago, I shared this post, written when Junior was only three. Ah, those were the days, when he was still little, and everything he did was funny or adorable. Now Junior is six, and in many ways still a toddler, but bigger, stronger, and heavier. His propensity for getting into trouble has spiked, and he keeps me on my toes all day long.

Just in the past 48 hours, Junior did the following:

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Short Vowel Stories Adapted for Children with Down Syndrome

Published on July 5, 2022 by Mary CooneyLeave a comment

As promised in my last post about our top ten resources for teaching beginning phonics, here is a collection of Short Vowel Stories adapted for children with T21. I wrote these for my oldest child when she was learning to read. Since I’m all about adapting materials for children with T21, of course I had to adapt these stories for Junior. I spent a fair amount of time adapting the stories for him, increasing the font size, putting double spaces between each word, and adding a lot more visuals to help with reading comprehension. So, when he buzzed through these stories, I have to admit I was pleased, but I also had that unsettling feeling you get when you spend two hours cooking up a wonderful meal and then your teenage sons devour it in five minutes.

Anyways, I think this collection of very short stories will help your children (with or without Down Syndrome) enjoy success as they first read phonetically. And yes, for you they’re free.

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12 Great Christmas Gifts for Preschoolers with Down Syndrome

Published on December 14, 2021April 14, 2022 by Mary Cooney1 Comment

“Oh well, I do nothing but shop all day.” This is a quote from St. Zelie Martin, the mother of St. Therese of Lisieux. I think any mother of a large family can relate… I certainly do! My kids are constantly outgrowing and outwearing everything. She goes on to write, “Your father says, amusingly, that it is a passion with me! It is no use explaining to him that I have no choice; he finds it hard to believe.” (Letter 143)

I find these words so consoling, especially nowadays when I feel I have stupendous amounts of Christmas shopping to do. A saint shopping all day… can you image? Shopping seems so materialistic, but we can find holiness even in shopping if we do it out of love for our family and friends.

So for those of you with littles, here are some Christmas gift ideas to make your shopping a little easier:

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Music for Preschoolers with (or without) Down Syndrome

Published on March 21, 2021April 14, 2022 by Mary CooneyLeave a comment

Happy World Down Syndrome Day! Earlier this winter, I attended a webinar featuring Dr. Brian Skotko, the director of the Down Syndrome Program at Massachusets General Hospital. He gave a wonderful, highly informative presentation on how to keep our loved ones healthy, boost their cognition, and how we might mitigate the onset and severity of Alzheimer’s Disease. We all know that keeping our kids active is so important to their overall health, but Dr. Skotko’s presentation showed how this is especially crucial for kids with T21.

One of the easiest ways I keep Junior active is by playing music for him. He loves music, and he loves to dance. So we play music and dance several times a day, and he really gets a workout. Bonus: He learns the lyrics and starts singing along, which is great for his speech.

Today, I’m sharing with you his current playlists of songs and dance music.

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The Unsung Heroines of the ProLife Movement

Published on January 30, 2021April 14, 2022 by Mary Cooney2 Comments

Most of you know that our youngest child has Down Syndrome. We found out the day after he was born, when the pediatrician noticed several markers for T21. That day the nurses tried to draw blood so they could run a test to confirm the diagnosis. But the particular vein they needed to draw blood from was too tiny, and after seeing my son’s wrist full of needle holes, I asked them not to try again until he was older and his veins were bigger. My husband and I didn’t need immediate test results — T21 or not, he was our son and we loved him dearly.

Unbeknownst to my husband and I, the nurses drew blood for the test a week later. I didn’t know this until they told me that the test came back positive. I could have been upset that they drew blood without our permission, but I wasn’t. I could have been upset that the test came back positive, but I wasn’t. I was, however, tired and stressed because Junior wasn’t gaining weight, I wasn’t producing enough milk, and progress with his oxygen levels was painstakingly slow.

Later that afternoon, Junior’s nurse noticed that I was visibly upset. She thought it was because the test results had come back positive. “I’m sorry about the test results,” she said, sympathetically. Then she said something that shocked me: “Do you want to put him up for adoption?”

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Raising a Child with Down Syndrome: Talking with Cale Clarke on Relevant Radio

Published on December 3, 2020April 14, 2022 by Mary Cooney2 Comments

I got a call from Cale Clark the other day. After reading a controversial article from The Atlantic Magazine, The Last Children of Down Syndrome, he wanted to know what it’s like to raise a child with Down Syndrome. What was it like to get that diagnosis? What’s our life like now? And how do we deal with the uncertainties about our son’s future?

Our family’s experience is only one data point, but it is an experience shared by many families blessed to have a child with T21…

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