“Forty years ago, you would not have heard or seen me. I would have been a secret kept behind closed doors. Now I have begun to meet my potential. I have Down syndrome. It’s a part of who I am but I do not let that define me,” said Special Olympian Janet Charchuk. The message of inclusion was voiced by many speakers at the Down Syndrome Family Network’s conference at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain last Friday.
Canada-born Charchuk, the keynote speaker, prefaced her presentation by explaining why she does not like the word “disability.” “There is a word I really do not like using and that word is disability. I prefer different abilities. We all have different abilities and we should all focus on what we can do instead of what we cannot do.” She said people with Down syndrome and people with special needs are able to live normal functioning lives. While they may need help, if people with Down syndrome are included in society and taught like other children, then they can be successful, she said.
Throughout her life, Charchuk was included in all activities with other children. As a child she had many friends, most of whom were nondisabled. “It is really important for children to play with children with different abilities so that they learn from each other and become tolerant and understanding. Children who have different abilities should be included in all things,” she said.
Charchuk said in Canada, there were no special groups for children with Down syndrome. Attending school was an option, she said, that many people with Down syndrome did not have and when she was ready to go to school she was able to attend the same school as her friends. While in school she worked hard like the other children, and needed help from the teacher like the other children.
One of the programmes the school implemented was a peer assistance group that helped other students with their studies. She said a programme like that helped both her and the peer tutor because she showed them how to understand people with different abilities. “My life experiences helped me to be the person who I am today. There are more choices and options for people of all abilities these days,” Charchuk said.
Many families were present at the conference—families with babies, toddlers, children, teenagers and even adults with Down syndrome. Phillippa Liverpool was there with her one-year-old son Amari Smith. She expressed her concern for the way people with different abilities are treated and she was sceptical of the way schools were treating students with special needs.
“I see how people treat those with disabilities and there is a lot of work to be done. My older son needed a special education teacher and he only got one in Form One and never had one after that,” Liverpool said. Cyril Barran, who has an eight-year-old son with Down syndrome said he sees the potental in his son, but says children with different abilities require a lot of medical care which is costly. He said he attempted to get assistance from the Disabilities Unit from the Ministry of the People and Social Development, however, he did not fit in the pay bracket for financial assistance.