Family Life with Down Syndrome Return to Clete Baker's Homely Page . It's an interesting thing, the cultural bias with which you greet the news that some disaster has befallen your newborn child.
Some families are athletically inclined, sports enthusiasts, avid competitors.
For these families physical rivalry is a metaphor for life itself. When struck with a birth defect which results in a child with a physical impairment, the reaction is of catastrophic proportions. The same family might view the birth of a mentally retarded child as a tragic accident, certainly, but a mere inconvenience to their lifestyle. It was just the opposite for me. My lifestyle is less than physically demanding, so I hold little regard for physical prowess.