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Pulling to Stand
Glimpses of parenting two children with Down syndrome on very different paths
Various buzz words typically plant children with disabilities in certain categories in the special needs world. High functioning, severe delay, semi-independent, low functioning, mild. A spectrum of functionality exists for our kids, whether we like it or not.
Gillian Marchenko is a mom to two girls with Down syndrome, Polly and Evangeline, who are on very different paths of development. One could say they are polar opposites on the spectrum. Polly, talkative and gregarious, is educated in an inclusive classroom and Evangeline, non-verbal and often disengaged from her surroundings, is placed in a special education school. Their day to day 'functionality' is quite different from one another.
This eBook, a compilation of some of Gillian's favorite blog posts from 2007 until 2014, explores Polly and Evangeline's differences and similarities, both positive and negative, and gently suggests that perhaps a child's worth is not indicated by where he or she falls on the 'spectrum.'
Throughout this compilation, Gillian begins to understand that she, too, exists on a spectrum as she parents children with special needs. But unlike her girls (or perhaps, just like them) she is a mother who moves up and down the spectrum often; she's a good mom, and then a bad mom. She's sad that Down syndrome makes some things difficult for her girls. She loves the attributes they possess that possibly may not be there without an extra chromosome. She's a discouraged mom. She's a hopeful mom.
In Pulling To Stand, Gillian begins to understand that her girls are different. And her girls are the same.
Polly is Polly. Evangeline is Evangeline. And Gillian is a special needs mom. But the most important word in that description for her, she comes to understand, is mom.
Various buzz words typically plant children with disabilities in certain categories in the special needs world. High functioning, severe delay, semi-independent, low functioning, mild. A spectrum of functionality exists for our kids, whether we like it or not.
Gillian Marchenko is a mom to two girls with Down syndrome, Polly and Evangeline, who are on very different paths of development. One could say they are polar opposites on the spectrum. Polly, talkative and gregarious, is educated in an inclusive classroom and Evangeline, non-verbal and often disengaged from her surroundings, is placed in a special education school. Their day to day 'functionality' is quite different from one another.
This eBook, a compilation of some of Gillian's favorite blog posts from 2007 until 2014, explores Polly and Evangeline's differences and similarities, both positive and negative, and gently suggests that perhaps a child's worth is not indicated by where he or she falls on the 'spectrum.'
Throughout this compilation, Gillian begins to understand that she, too, exists on a spectrum as she parents children with special needs. But unlike her girls (or perhaps, just like them) she is a mother who moves up and down the spectrum often; she's a good mom, and then a bad mom. She's sad that Down syndrome makes some things difficult for her girls. She loves the attributes they possess that possibly may not be there without an extra chromosome. She's a discouraged mom. She's a hopeful mom.
In Pulling To Stand, Gillian begins to understand that her girls are different. And her girls are the same.
Polly is Polly. Evangeline is Evangeline. And Gillian is a special needs mom. But the most important word in that description for her, she comes to understand, is mom.
91 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 8, 2016
18 people want to read
About the author
Gillian Marchenko
3 books59 followersGillian Marchenko's most recent book, Still Life, A Memoir of Living Fully with Depression, published in the spring of 2016 with InterVarsity Press. Her first book, Sun Shine Down, A Memoir, published in 2013 with T. S. Poetry Press. Her work has also appeared in numerous publications including Chicago Parent, Today's Christian Woman, Literary Mama, Thriving Family, and MomSense Magazine. Gillian lives near St. Louis with her husband Sergei and their four daughters. Connect with her on Facebook at Gillian Marchenko or at gillianmarchenko.com.
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