Laurie Pachl. Courtesy photo
COMMUNITY News:
UPS, the United Parent Support Group, with the help of the Los Alamos Public Schools Foundation, Los Alamos National Bank and others invite the community to learn more about Down or Downs Syndrome at a free workshop, next week.
Patti McVay and Laurie Pachl will present the workshop at 4 p.m. Monday, Aug. 11, at the United Church of Los Alamos, 2525 Canyon Road.
McVay and Pachl were presenters at the National Down Syndrome Congress in Denver, where they were seen by Jorge and Sylvia Roman. The Romans, along with United Parent Support sought assistance from the LAPS Foundation and Los Alamos National Bank and arranged the community presentation.
“I would like that not only parents with special needs children attend this workshop but especially, business owners, church leaders, scouts leaders, after school directors and the community in general,” Roman said. “So that they can be aware that people with special needs can be included in the regular classrooms, workforce and other activities and all will benefit.”
McVay and Pachl both agree that if you considered every morning you woke up and walked into a place where you were defined by a quality, a label, that often limits you and your potential, you may see the world differently.
“I have had disability around me my entire life as far back as I can remember, so I didn’t really think of people with disabilities as all that different from anyone else,” Pachl said. “During my coaching career, our family was surprised to welcome a new baby and before she arrived, we found out that our now 6 and a half year old, was diagnosed pre-natally with Down Syndrome. It was imperative for me as a mother, to raise my daughter in the same way as her siblings, so I continued coaching and became more involved on the education side.”
The team would like to suggest that everyone listen first to the children – those with disabilities and those without. They agree that middle and high school students frequently tell them that the ones that create barriers for students are adults who believe they won’t want to be friends with those who have disabilities. The team states that students are very clear that it is the past beliefs and past experiences of adults and not children, that assist in developing the bias.
