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I just wanted Abby to be treated with the utmost respect,

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given the opportunity to

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live a life that was full

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and had meaning and be able to give back

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to a world that she lived in.

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Abby is a remarkable young woman,

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who over the years has

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never ceased to amaze us in terms of

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the things that she´s achieved.

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Abby isn´t a Down syndrome adult;

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she´s an adult who happens to have Down syndrome.

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We had been told that Abby would

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go to a school in a neighboring town,

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and we didn´t want that for her.

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We bought our home in Brighton

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and that´s where we wanted her to go to school.

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because they have exemplary schools,

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I think early on some of the obstacles were

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teachers and administrators that didn´t have the same

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vision that LuAnn and I had.

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It was quite a process to work with them and

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to encourage them

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to see the same things and the same

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potential that we saw in Abby.

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The challenges were like the upfront work

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because a lot of people

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if you just caught them off guard

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and said, I would like to have my daughter

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attend your Montessori school,

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their knee jerk reaction was, No.

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We started ahead of time a-year-and-a-half or

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two years before

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and kind of let people know what was going on,

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introduced Abby ahead of time,

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give them an opportunity to

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get a feel for what she really was about

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and what she could bring into

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school or preschool or whatever it was.

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This goal of inclusion,

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having her in the regular classroom with

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with her same-age peer student

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and not segregated her into a special ed room.

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A typical day would be she works at the preschool

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from about 9:30 to 11:15.

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I love preschool a lot.

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I like over there is

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kids having fun and just

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[Inaudible] in your life.

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She´s actually assisting like she really has a role.

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And so I think it´s given her encouragement

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to see that she can do things independently.

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She gets delighted to see the children

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and that she´s giving back.

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She will continue to work at preschool,

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just kind of continue what

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any typical person at 20 would do.

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Maybe have a part-time job and go to school.

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She has two hours with her tutor

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working on reading comprehension skills

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and writing and math.

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She has two hours there, and then she

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takes two dance classes

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at Washtenaw Community College.

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One of them is dance exercise

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and the other one is hip hop.

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Well, I like to dance.

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It´s really about like your life.

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Dancing has to be like my passion.

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Really, with Abby there is no difference

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from any of the other students.

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In someways Abby is more focused.

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Comes to class sometimes

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more ready than a lot of my students.

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Abby really has a gift for dance.

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She has an intuitive sense of rhythm,

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those things that you can´t teach,

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Abby has naturally.

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I think it´s a wonderful thing to have her in class.

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I think it´s wonderful for her,

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and it´s wonderful for the rest of the students.

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We come home, make dinner.

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Sometimes we walk the dog.

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Sometimes we´ll play Wii.

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We just kind of have a typical evening.

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I think it´s really important for

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parents and teachers to view people

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with disabilities as people first.

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Learn to understand your child,

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learn to appreciate what

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they value and what their interests are.

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And don´t give up.

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Help them to see themselves as

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a valuable member of society.

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Give them opportunities to grow.

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This was our goal for her to

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be educated in the regular classroom

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with supports that were needed,

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whatever those were.

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And to help her be the best that she could be,

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which is what we want for all of our children.

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