Jon's Story By Mike & Sally Halasz (8/07)

Our son Jonathan was born in March of 1982. He was the 3rd one of our children and a textbook case as I was 40 years old. I could have found out he was downs before he was born but I never thought anything like having a handicap child would happen to me. Even though you have a greater chance of having a downs child later in life, I had never taken any kind of drugs, didn’t smoke and didn’t drink so therefore I rejected any test that might have told us before hand of his condition.

Shortly after he was born the nurses brought him to my room so we could bond. That had not happened with my other two babies, but I kept thinking times have changed. My husband and I were not told till the next morning that we had a down’s boy and the ob-gyn doctor was trying to be very positive telling us quote, Iif you had to have a down’s child you had a good one,” due to his muscle tone not being floppy and no medical problems. The pediatrician, however, was a different story. He advised us to take him home, sit him in the corner and give him a paper sack to play with, as he wouldn’t want toys to play with. My husband and I often laugh these days, as the doctor was right. Our son does play with paper sacks . . . and plastic. You see he is a courtesy clerk for Safeway and bags groceries. But I am getting ahead of my story.

Jon started programs to help him at the age of 8 weeks, and has been in school ever since. We had to teach him everything other babies take for granted. But he learned and my husband and I never thought of him as handicapped and expected him to do everything our other children had done. He grew and started a regular kindergarten class when he was 6 years of age. As he continued he would have P.E., art, homeroom in a regular classroom and all his math, reading, writing he was pulled out and went to a special class with a special ed teacher. By the time he got to high school he was so well known in the school system that he was given the freedom to go from class to class by himself without a buddy to escort him. By the 11th grade he was taught to take the city bus by himself and that opened up a whole new world of freedom to him. He now attends the SRJC on his own taking such classes such as college skills, swimming, karate (he is a brown belt), cooking class, computer class, golf, tennis, and this fall he is going to take archery. He is still learning every year and his skills continue to grow.

Jon started out helping his older brother in a lawn business being a gofer for his brother and getting paid for it. He quickly learned that he could save his money and then go to the movies, or buy a soda. When his brother went on to college and gave up the lawn business, Jon too was out of a job. His dad and him went to Safeway and filled out an application and Jon got hired. His father acted as his job coach for about 3 weeks after which Safeway said he is doing just fine and we won’t need you to aid him anymore. That was 7 years ago. He is in the union making union wages with insurance, three weeks vacation and all of the benefits of the union. In the 7 years he has been there he has only been late 1 time and absent due to illness 2 days. He takes his job seriously and makes sure he knows his schedule for the coming week and that he gets up on time and is clean and neat when he leaves for work. Working in the public has given him a world of experiences . . . some good and some not so good but he has handled each one. This summer he wanted to give back to the community so he decided to volunteer at the Food Bank two days a week.

Jon has wanted to do everything his older brother has done and his biggest disappointment was turning 16 and not being able to drive a car. But Jon overcame that also and with the help of Becoming Independent and North Bay Regional Center in 2004 he got his California driver’s license. He has his own car and drives not only to college but also to work and anyplace else he might want to go in the area. He is a very good driver. We have always taught Jon to do things the right way the first time as he doesn’t forget and will do it the same way each time thereafter.

The entire family is very proud of Jon’s achievements. He continues to amaze us and we look forward to the future with great happiness. He has truly been a blessing.

Maddie would like to share what Emma means to her, "Sis, my turn, my turn!" Emma says every night before bed. When it's her turn, she gets to sleep in my room (a special treat). Emma is a wonderful sister and she is fun to play with. At night we always eat popcorn and watch Disney channel. We love to do things together. In 2003 we went to the National Down Syndrome buddy walk in New York city. There we got to meet actors and actresses. We also got to be on the Panasonic T. V. Not to mention going to the statue of Liberty.

On Wednesdays and Thursdays last year, my friends and I helped out in Emma's kindergarten class during our lunch recess. I can't do that next year though because I'm going to Junior High (a different campus). Emma can read simple books, write her name, and count.

Emma loves to do Lemonade stands and play with Athena and Chelsea, our neighbors. Emma has brought us many laughs and memories in the past and, I know she'll bring us many in the future.

Sincerely,
Madeline Noellle Kucer, Age 12