Q6: Loving Andrew – Chapter 4

Wyllie talked about needing courage and confidence to deal with new people.

“We lack the courage to be different because we don’t have the advantage of accumulated wisdom to help us develop confidence. However, having decided not to follow the usual course of action when our son was born, I had to continue to face the challenge of meeting new people and dealing with new reactions.” p. 45

Did you find it difficult to tell your friends or new people that you met?

She goes on to deliver a detailed account of how she felt inferior to other mothers based on her “Chevy” model stroller and “funny, floppy baby.”

How did you react to reading this passage? Do you identify with her feelings of inferiority or did resent her admission of comparing herself, and her baby, to others?

Wyllie credits the Kennedy family for bringing intellectual disability into the mainstream. She even lists a couple of mainstream magazine articles that discuss Down syndrome.

What resources did you have when your child was born? How much did you know about Down syndrome before the diagnosis?

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2 comments on “Q6: Loving Andrew – Chapter 4
  1. Nova says:

    I remember clearly being in bed nursing Kate when a friend stopped by to see the new baby girl. I broke into tears just now realizing the shame I felt delivering a broken child into a world of cruelty. A child who I had no idea how they would survive the pain of being different. My friend was so kind it took the sting out of my tears. Time proved she would be my savior.

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