Jennifer Angèle lives in Canada. His grandson Sawyer recently experienced a real tragedy: he was the only one in the whole class not to be invited to a classmate’s birthday party. We all remember what it means for a child to be an outcast among their peers.
And Jennifer decided to defend her son. She wrote an open letter to the birthday boy’s parents and posted it on her Facebook page. Do you think mom got excited? Maybe. But the situation is further complicated by the fact that Sawyer was born with Down syndrome and his mother is constantly forced to watch how others try to push her son away from life. “I fully understand that this is not a mistake, but a deliberate decision on your part,” the woman wrote in her letter.
The parents invited the whole class to the party – 22 people. And only Sawyer ended up without an invitation, which, of course, everyone immediately learned. According to the mother, her son never had any problems with his classmates. He is a very nice boy and tries to be friends with everyone. Therefore, Jennifer is sure that the boy was not invited to the party just because he is a little different from the others.
The words of the woman touched everyone: «I know that if you knew a little more about people with this disease, you would not make such a decision».
In her letter, the woman recalls that she herself first had a hard time: no one could tell her how to raise her son. From those around her, convinced that the boy would never be «normal», she only heard stereotypes and seriously feared that her son would never be able to communicate with his peers.
But all her fears disappeared when she saw how easily Sawyer finds a common language with her brother and sister. In her letter, she tried to explain that her son is no different from other children:
“People with this disease see life exactly the same way we do. They have the same needs, they like to communicate, make friends, discuss, have goals, etc.»
Jennifer asked the parents of a classmate to speak to their son: “Any parent wants their child to be friends with their peers, not to be an outcast. And for that, we ourselves must set an example for our children, we must instill in them the desire to make the right choice. The woman is sure that the boys will be able to make friends if they get to know each other better.
Sawyer had hardly ever been invited to birthday parties before. And her mother began to suspect that it was her fault. The boy studies in the most ordinary class and does not require any special treatment. So his mother never asked teachers and parents of classmates to treat her son in a special way. “I know that parents of children with Down syndrome, before sending them to school, often speak at parent-teacher meetings to talk about their child. But I did not do it. To me, he was always a normal kid, and it seemed like people already knew enough about Down syndrome that I didn’t need to lecture them. But I was wrong. Now I feel like I’ve let my son down.»
Jennifer regrets not having spoken to the parents of her classmates sooner.
Maybe then she wouldn’t have to defend her son in public. Of course, in her letter she did not indicate any names. But acquaintances could easily understand to whom this message was addressed. Hundreds of thousands of people have read this letter and contributed to its distribution. A few days later, Jennifer said a classmate’s parents immediately responded to her call and spoke to their son.
As a result, Sawyer received a special invitation to a birthday party that instantly made him the happiest boy alive. «He can’t stop talking about it,» mom wrote. Savier is far from the only child to have proven that children with Down syndrome can study in a regular school without any problems.