SredniEel

If, by some miracle, there was ever a sequel to Buckaroo Banzai (and even though you died in the first one), do you think you'd want to be in it?

That movie was the first time I ever saw you onscreen, and you had the best cheesy death scene ever. Buckaroo Banzai is still one of my favorite movies.

I'm a special education aide and we got an eight year old Downs girl in our classroom at the beginning of last school year. She's incredibly fast, insanely smart (she knows Spanish, English and ASL), and also knows people think she's cute and capitalizes on this. What impresses me is how much energy this kid has, in spite of having a giant heart surgery scar on her chest.

Did your child also have heart issues? If so, is she really active?

The kid I work with may be an insane little anomaly, but she definitely keeps me in shape.

Generally, the higher functioning Downs folks lead perfectly able lives, hold down jobs, pay their own rent if they leave home (my ex brother inlaw did), and are fairly productive members of society. Some will ultimately live with their parents their whole lives (or as long as the parents live), and unless said parents are on welfare, they're footing the bills for their own kids.

Tell me about it. I can't even begin to imagine what home life is like. I only have this kid 6.5 hours a day, and I go home ready to crumple into an unconscious heap on the couch every day.

I'm really amazed and bow down to anyone who lives with a special needs kid, because they're really a tough road to hoe. And your daughter is very cute. She deeply resembles the girl I work with.

However, OP did make the decision to care for his daughter, and that's commendable. I'm not sure I could do the same. In fact, I didn't believe I'd be able to care for any child, so I opted for voluntary sterilization. No, it's a very rough life for both parent and Downs child. There are a lot of medical issues, so hopefully there's medical insurance. There's a lot of physical issues. Definitely a lot of mental challenges.

As I said, the higher functioning Downs person can make a decent life, but it's also a very difficult life, particularly if they try to live on their own. Most don't tend to be that lucky. I can see the kid I work with working very hard to learn even the simplest things (she cannot button buttons, tie shoes, or speak in complete sentences), but I also know she will likely live with her parents until she is too strong for them. It's my job to ensure she knows how to behave in society.

Trouble is, she's very stubborn. Smart as she is, she has trouble focusing on much more than what she wants at any given time. I only have her for another three years, and then hopefully she will be well behaved enough to know she needs to listen to people when they tell her to do things.