12/6/2023 0 Comments Before you judge meMost important, just be my friend.“Extra's” Charissa Thompson sat down with author Tavis Smiley to talk about his new book “Before You Judge Me,” which sheds new light on the dark days before Michael Jackson's death. Treat me with respect, and accept me for who I am. I’d tell them: Judge me as a whole person, not just the person you see. I can’t change that I have Down syndrome, but one thing I would change is how people think of me. It’s like I have this gut feeling that comes out of me and onto the paper. I’m not sure where the ideas come from-I just look them up in my head. My poems are all about my feelings: when I hope, when I hurt. Maybe that’s why I write poetry-so people can find out who I really am. And I really want people to go in there and see what I’m all about. Sometimes all I see-all I think other people see-is the outside of me, not the inside. I just know that if I work really hard and be myself, I can do almost anything.īut I still have to remind myself all the time that it really is OK to just be myself. It’s true that I don’t learn some things as fast as other people. One day I looked in the mirror, and I saw someone in my head, a famous person or someone who was somebody, and I just knew: I will be a singer. I know it’s going to happen, because I’ve seen it. Right now someone else is singing my songs, but someday, I want to be the one singing. One of my favorite things to do is write poetry, and this singer my dad knows recorded some of my poems as singles. I try not to let things like that upset me and just think of all the good things in my life. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to, and that’s hard to accept. For instance, I don’t drive, but a lot of kids in my school do. That’s exactly what happened this year!īut sometimes it’s hard being with typical kids. For instance, my goal was to be in a typical English class by 12th grade. It really helps, but I also challenge myself to do well. She helps me take notes and gives me tips on how I should study for tests. I have an aide who goes with me to my harder classes, like math and biology. Some of my classes are with typical kids, and some are with kids with learning disabilities. And I get along with my sisters-except when they take my CDs without asking! I think about the future, like who I’ll marry. I’m on the swim team and in chorus at school. Melissa Riggio shares her thoughts about Down syndrome.Įven though I have Down syndrome, my life is a lot like yours. I’m a hard worker, a good person, and I care about my friends. But having Down syndrome is what makes me “me.” And I’m proud of who I am. I just want to be like everyone else, so sometimes I wish I could give back the extra chromosome. When my mom first told me I had Down syndrome, I worried that people might think I wasn’t as smart as they were, or that I talked or looked different. (For instance, some of my classes are in a “resource room,” where kids with many kinds of learning disabilities are taught at a different pace.) A doctor would tell you the extra chromosome causes an intellectual disability that makes it harder for me to learn things. When people ask me what Down syndrome is, I tell them it’s an extra chromosome. “Have you ever met anyone who didn’t like you because you have Down syndrome?” she asks me. I thought you might see that I have Down syndrome, and that you wouldn’t like me. When I first started to work on this story, I thought maybe I shouldn’t do it. I Have Down Syndrome-Know Me Before You Judge Me
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