by Liz Szabo from USA Today:
The lives of the 250,000 Americans with Down syndrome today are radically different than a generation ago.
Tim Norton was devastated when his daughter was diagnosed with Down syndrome shortly after her birth in 2006.He envisioned her growing up tragically disabled. The years ahead seemed filled with darkness.
A chance encounter on a ski slope, just a few months after his daughter was born, changed Norton's outlook on Down syndrome and the prospects for his daughter's happiness.
While skiing near his home in Massachusetts, a gifted teenage skier with Down syndrome, Melissa Joy Reilly, glided past him at the crest of a hill.
Norton had noticed Reilly earlier in the day but said nothing.
"Melissa stopped in front of me and said, 'Hello, how are you?' " says Norton, of Westford, Mass. "I said, 'Great. What a great night to be skiing.' "
And, just like that, Norton's life was changed.
"Without her even knowing it, without her even trying — it was quite remarkable — I got just the positive lift that I needed," says Norton, whose daughter, Margaret, is now 7.
"She opened my eyes to what the possibilities could be for my daughter," says Norton, a ski instructor. "It was like, 'Wow, this isn't a big black hole. This is a girl who can walk and talk and ski.' "Like Norton, many people are surprised to learn of the dramatic improvements in health and quality of life for children and adults with Down syndrome.
Advocates for people with Down syndrome feel a new urgency to spread the word about these advances, as more women undergo prenatal tests for Down syndrome and other genetic conditions.
