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Kids build confidence RALEIGH - In the back corner of the North Raleigh Home Depot on Friday night, past the lumber and the shelving, children and parents have a special task. Grown-ups kneel on the floor showing their children how to construct a wooden sailboat and a collector's shelf out of "easy-to-assemble" kits. Parents mop sweat from their faces and wince as their kids take a swing at nailing. At one table, Dan Angelini helps out his daughter, Gabrielle. Actually, Dad is doing most of the work. The 3-year-old, an orange apron over her denim jumper, has other plans. She presses plastic safety goggles to her aquamarine eyes. She picks up a hammer and totes it to the next table. "She's just excited to be here with me," Angelini says, beaming at his little girl, who has curly pastel ribbons in her hair. "I have five children." The rest of Angelini's kids are boys. Gabrielle is Daddy's girl. She's stands out for another reason too. She has Down syndrome. At this workshop, she's surrounded by friends. A glance around the room shows faces with Gabrielle's distinctively slanted eyes, from toddlers to teens. Some kids prefer sitting on parents' laps to hammer; others get busy. They nag parents to hurry up so they can take a turn at hammering. "She's the same as any other child," Angelini says as his daughter strikes a pose. "I just have to be more attentive." Ann Garrett, a member of the Triangle Down Syndrome Network, came up with the idea for a wood-working class for children with Down syndrome when she heard about a similar outing at a Home Depot in New York City. "This makes it so much easier," she says, holding her 4-year-old daughter, Sydie. "It's nice because people won't stare at my kid here. No one is going to wonder why she's not talking or why she's doing things slower. I thought the children would feel more comfortable being around their peers." As parents and children stream in for the class, some recognize each other from support group meetings. Tinsley Hess coos over Sydie. "Can I hold her?" the freckle-faced adolescent asks. "She's so cute." The little girl wraps her arms around her neck. Dupe Banjoko brought Beth Morgan, a 7-year-old with a blond bob. Banjoko sat on the floor, spread out the directions and struggled to assemble the shelf. Banjoko started a nail in a premade hole and let Beth take it the rest of the way. The girl's fingers gripped the handle excitedly as she tapped it in. "There's so much stereotype in terms of what she's expected to do as a person," says the habilitation technician, who works with Beth five times a week. "My job is to make her life normal and make her capable of doing what everyone else can do." That's a common theme here. "Don't be afraid to hit it," Peter Hess tells Tinsley, who taps a nail gently. This is not just about learning carpentry, the parents say. It's about building confidence and relationships. Amanda Williams grinned as her mother held a shelf stationary and her father wrapped his wide hands around her small one, helping her hammer. With each stroke, her smile became wider. "You go, girl," her mom said when she got it in. The 13-year-old raised her arms and cheered. She did it. Just like anybody else. Reach staff writer Kelly Starling at 829-4636 or kstarlin@newsobserver.com
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