CNN. com has story about the Wincent family of Illinois, who have helped nurture their son and brother with Down syndrome, Zach, who is 19 and attends community college. Here's part of the story:Marget Wincent has never met Sarah Palin, but she hopes the Republican vice presidential candidate will respond to her recent e-mail. Wincent said she encouraged Palin, whose son Trig has Down syndrome, to "get that little guy on skates when he's a couple years old, and enjoy those snowmobile rides."
Zach Wincent, now 19, (pictured) works at Target near his family home in St. Charles, Illinois.
"Sometimes you're scared as a parent, and you wonder if your child is going to be able to do this and this and this," Wincent said recently. "And you know what? You just go out and try it, and you live each day at a time, and you celebrate all the great things that happen."
Wincent's own son Zach, now 19, also has Down syndrome. But the genetic disorder, which causes intellectual disabilities and other difficulties, has not prevented "Zach Attack" from enrolling in community college, climbing the Great Wall of China, coaching hockey games or becoming Prom king in high school.
Marget Wincent, a pediatric therapist in St. Charles, Illinois, who has worked with disabled children for 27 years, did not know about her son's condition until after he was born. He had a strong heart, walked at age 2 and signed at 18 months, which told her that he would be able to speak soon afterward.
Growing up, some children were kind to him, but other kids in the neighborhood made fun of her son, Wincent said. She believes that this came from lack of understanding of disabilities. She would tell these children that her son is a person just as they are and would follow up with phone calls to their parents.
Zach's adopted sister Zoe, now 14, stands up for him too, Wincent said.
"That's a really important role that families play in society: helping everybody else understand that everyone has feelings; everyone has a right to belong; everyone has to be accepted. You don't have to be his friend, but he sure deserves respect just like everyone else," Wincent said.She credits the teachers who were "out-of-the-box thinkers" for helping her son in school.
Sometimes he needed a simple intervention to make school easier for him: For instance, in a middle-school science class, he just needed someone to retype the worksheets in a larger font because he reads slowly and has visual problems,
she said.
To teach him about business, Zach's mother collaborated with him in selling ristbands stamped with positive messages such as "I CAN" and "DREAM BIG" when he was 16. Zach got to put orders together and pack them for shipping. They still have extra, ready for a potential fundraiser in the future, she said.
Entrepreneurship is the newest wave of employment for people with disabilities, Wincent said. When her son is a little older and wants more ownership over his work, she hopes to help him start a small business. Both she and her husband have had their own businesses, she said.
In high school, Zach became good friends with kids on the ice hockey team and became an assistant coach his junior year. He will again coach the alumni game in
December, when college-age graduates return to the school to play against the varsity team.
"I have to get them in shape," he said. "I have a huge, huge hockey family."
These days, Zach attends a special-needs program at Elgin Community College and lives at home. His mother said she hopes that after the two-year program, he will be able to attend another school and live on a college campus.
