from Chapter Five
Family Life with Your Baby
by Marian H. Jarrett, Ed.D.

You have undoubtedly thought about the changes in your life that the birth of your baby will bring. Many of these thoughts are happy ones, and rightfully so, because your baby will bring you great joy. But the arrival of a baby with Down Syndrome also brings stress and strain on family members and on family relationships. Having a child with Down syndrome requires coping by the whole family. You will face the challenge of adjusting in your own way, but right from the start you should know that it can be done. Thousands of families can testify to that.

Today the future is bright for families of children with Down syndrome. So much has been learned to help families successfully raise their child. With early intervention for infants, special education programs, inclusion, better social acceptance, support groups, and vastly improved medical care, family life is dramatically better than is was even ten or twenty years ago. Families no longer need to struggle on their own.