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Martha says in the book she has had to "unlearn virtually everything Harvard taught me about what is precious and what is garbage. I have discovered that many of the things I thought were priceless are as cheap as costume jewelry, and much of what I labeled worthless was, all the time, filled with the kind of beauty that directly nourishes my soul." (p. 331)
Another theme in the book is for
us to watch for the "Adams' in
our own lives. Listen to them..
let them teach you to listen to
yourself.
Models of disability shown in the book was
the medical model and the expert/professional model. The doctors did not support
the Becks' decision to keep the baby with the Down Syndrome diagnosis. Colleagues of the Becks also did not agree with their decision and urged them to "fix" the "problem" and not have the baby. One of them said, "It is the duty of every woman to screen her pregnancies and eliminate fetuses that would be a detriment to society." (p.247)
While John is away in Singapore on business, a fire breaks out in the Beck's apartment building. Martha carries her daughter 10 stories down a smoke-filled stairwell. As Martha nears the end, she becomes overcome by the acrid air, and feels a man's hand on her arm. She gets yanked to her feet and feels pushed along and supported until she reaches the apartment lobby. During this time, she was imagining that she and Katie would die and thought to herself, "Save money. Put two of us in one grave." She then heard a voice say, "Three." The next day when looking at a newspaper photo of her exiting the building, she saw there was no one behind her guiding her out of the building as she had thought.
Martha and John are working towards degrees at Harvard. They have a daughter, Katie and are expecting their second child. Martha has a rough pregnancy and discovers the baby she is carrying has Down Syndrome. Over the course of her pregnancy, Martha has many spiritual, mysterious moments that her rational, Harvard educated mind cannot explain.
One night well into her difficult pregnancy, Martha begins bleeding. She feels weak. She realizes there are beings in her room, looking at her with concern. She whispers, "Help this baby." She felt warmth rush through her torso and the bleeding stopped. Then she asks for help for herself, which is something this Harvard scholar struggles to do. She felt hands on her body and felt her fear melting away. Her rational mind tried to explain that it could have been her dehydrated self imagining everything.
There were many more examples in the book of unexplainable magic that happened while Martha was pregnant with Adam. During the ultrasound, she saw him and felt that she had known him forever and his name was Adam. Her husband felt the same. While her husband was away on business, Martha missed him so much she felt she was with him. Later when John would recount his trips, he described things that she had already seen in her mind. Even after Adam was born, little miracles happened. A psychic told her that one of her children was different. He was an angel. Martha said, "He has Down Syndrome." The psychic said that was irrelevant. He was an angel regardless of his diagnosis.
This book was published in 1999 and
is based on events from 1987. The Becks
did not feel supported in their decision to
have Adam. Speaking with several parents
of kids with DS recently, they told me they
were not supported either and were advised
to end the pregnancy. This was as late
as 2004. (medical...professional model)
Gigi's Playhouse offers educational and therapeutic
programs to families at no cost. All of their programs "aim to maximize self-confidence and
empower individuals to reach their greatest potential." Their website also says their global message is acceptance. Gigi's opened in 2003. Their mission statement shows how thinking has changed since Beck's experience with Adam in the late 1980s.
"He (Adam) put his arm around my shoulders again, but I had the feeling that instead of clinging to me for support, he was holding me up, embracing me, trying to help me trust that everything around us--the dolphins the birds, the sun, the sky, the whole vast, blue Atlantic--was there to bring us joy. I think he may be right." Martha Beck
Celebrated on 3/21, World Down Syndrome Day advises people to celebrate the vital role people with DS have in our community. (social model)