When Jonathan Frederick Will was born 40 years ago — on
May 4, 1972, his father’s 31st birthday — the life expectancy for people with
Down syndrome was about 20 years. That is understandable. The day after Jon was born, a doctor told Jon’s parents
that the first question for them was whether they intended to take Jon home
from the hospital. Nonplussed, they said they thought that is what parents
do with newborns. Not doing so was, however, still considered an acceptable
choice for parents who might prefer to institutionalize or put up for adoption
children thought to have necessarily bleak futures. Read more.
Apostrophe — a quarterly magazine for people with developmental disabilities who are overcoming ‘can’t,’ ‘shouldn’t,’ and ‘don’t’ in their lives. — Forget can't and don't. We can and do.
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