Down Syndrome chief’s special insight

IT makes a big difference that the chief executive of Down Syndrome Ireland has a little girl with the condition because he wants the very best life can give children just like her.

Michael McCormick is the first head of the organisation who has a child with Down Syndrome and it makes all the difference because he speaks with a passion about the condition.

“I know what Megan wants. I know all the children are different but it gives me a real insight into the condition,” he said yesterday.

One child in 547 born every year in Ireland has Down Syndrome, a condition the organisation is highlighting this month with their national Honey Days campaign.

Mr McCormick is proud of how his eight-year-old daughter has progressed and he loves her to bits. “She can talk now; she can write her name and she knows where she lives,” he said.

Megan is in first class at St Peter’s National School in Drogheda, Co Louth, where she has her own personal educational scheme.

“Down Syndrome Ireland has made a difference to me because Megan is going to the same school her brother and sister went to,” said Mr McCormick.

“There is more to education than academics. Children with Down Syndrome see their brothers and sisters going to school and they will ask why they have to go to a special school.”

“It is good for everybody in the class to have a member with Down Syndrome so they can see that society is not all about high achievers.”

Down Syndrome Ireland can be contacted at 01-8730999. Their website is www.downsyndrome.ie.