Success Stories

Our Participants Tell the Real Story of Community Support Services

• Kayla, Luke and Colin*
  Ask Kayla to tell you about herself and her brothers, and the first thing that comes to mind is, "Well, we're all pretty much Backstreet Boys fans." Just like any average 14 1/2 -year-old, Kayla is interested in music, boys, and in getting her driver's permit next summer. The fact that her youngest brother has Down syndrome doesn't define her.
  
  She sits watching a movie on the couch with her brothers Luke, age 12 and Colin, age 7. To Kayla and her friends, it is no big deal that Colin has Down syndrome, "The whole class is pretty familiar with him. In fifth grade, my mom came in and had this whole lesson about what Down syndrome was and so now they are all pretty familiar with it, which is good. They just treat him like a normal kid," she said.
  
  The phone rings, and Kayla jumps up to get it -- it could be for her (and it is). So Luke chimes in, since Colin doesn't talk much. He says that Colin loves to eat -- popcorn and hot dogs are his favorites. Colin loves going to Luke's baseball games, too. Next year, Colin might start playing Buddy Baseball himself.
  
  Kayla returns to the couch next to Colin. He has sprained his knee and doesn't feel like moving. She has an easy way with him, comforting his cries and speaking in gentle tones. When Colin was a baby, he smiled at her before he smiled at anyone else. Now that she's older, she watches Colin and Luke after school until her parents get home. They couldn't ask for a more loving big sister.
  
  The family is thankful not only for the services Colin receives from CSS (Respite), but for the way the agency has helped the entire family, explains their mother Carol, "In the last couple of years, we've dealt with a lot of unemployment, and which is really hard at Christmas time (Santa Anonymous Program). During that unemployment, even helping us pay a bill or two, here and there really helped (Financial Assistance Program). Rob had a 20-month unemployment and an 18-month unemployment. We went through everything we had, that once in a while being able to count on somebody else when we were desperate, kept us in our home."
  
  To Luke and Kayla, Colin is little brother. They are proud of him just the way he is. Carol sums up the way the entire family feels about Colin, "I didn't know I was having a kid with Down syndrome. After the delivery, that night in the hospital, my husband told me, 'They think he has Down syndrome.' I asked him why they thought that, and he told me why, but then he said, let me ask you this, 'Do you feel any differently about him?' and I said, 'No, he's my son, and he's always going to be my son.' And happily, we just moved on from there."
  
  *Names have been changed to protect the privacy of our participants.