What the Medical Model Gets Wrong About My Child With a Disability
Editor’s note: This post is written with permission from my child. Image is also used with her permission. A couple of weeks ago I took my middle daughter to the cerebral palsy clinic at Mayo Clinic. We go every six months, and have been doing so for almost 10...
9 Worries I Have as a Parent of a Child With a Disability
I spent most of the day at school with my youngest daughter, who has Down syndrome. I spoke to her general education classmates about Dow syndrome, helped with an activity for another class, had lunch with her, and then because she asked me to, I stayed for...
My Daughter With Down Syndrome Helps Me Become More ‘Me’
Most of us parents believe our kids make us better people. All three of my kids have made me a better human. I also want to be better because of them. In this process of becoming, I find that my youngest daughter, who has Down syndrome, has helped me become more...
Children With Disabilities Are Not ‘Less’
When I was a child, an adult tried to explain to me what Down syndrome was, they ignorantly said, “It’s like they only have half a brain.” The damaging and dangerous implications of that statement were not clear to me as I was only a child. Because the...
To My Daughter With Down Syndrome on Her 12th Birthday
I wish I could go back in time to the day you were born. I knew so little about Down syndrome, and my negative disability attitudes made me feel scared about having a child with a disability. We’ve helped each other learn and grow these last 12 years. It’s been an...
Ellen Stumbo writes and speaks about finding beauty in brokenness with gritty honesty and openness. She's passionate about sharing the real – sometimes beautiful and sometimes ugly – aspects of faith, parenting, special needs, and adoption. Ellen’s writing has appeared on Focus on the Family, LifeWay, MomSense, Not Alone, Mamapedia and the Huffington Post.