Mum Writes Open Letter After Son with Down Syndrome Was Excluded From Party

A mother who has a son with Down Syndrome pens an open letter after her son was not invited to his school mate’s birthday party.

Mum Jennifer Kiss-Engele, from Canada, has written an open letter on Thursday to the parent of her son’s school mate who excluded her son from the birthday party.

She pointed out that her son, Sawyer, was the only child out of the two dozen children in the class who was not invited.

In the heartfelt letter that was posted on Facebook, Ms Kiss-Engele is pleading for a more ‘inclusive approach’ to parenting. She wrote:

“I know it’s not because he’s mean, you couldn’t meet a happier child…I know it’s not because he’s not fun, he has a great sense of humor and an infectious laugh…I know it’s not because your child and him don’t get along, he’s brought up your child’s name on several occasions…The only reason why you decided it was OK to not invite my son to your child’s birthday party is because he has Down Syndrome.”

Ms Kiss-Engele said she is ‘not mad’ but she wants to educate the parent on what it means to have Down Syndrome and how she would love for the parent to get to know her son better.

“I am sorry that you are not informed, maybe scared, or uncertain about what it means to have Down Syndrome…You see, having Down Syndrome doesn’t mean that you don’t want to have friends. It doesn’t mean that you don’t have feelings. It doesn’t mean you don’t like to go to birthday parties. People with Down Syndrome want the same things that you and I want. They want to have close relationships, they want to feel love, they want to contribute, they want to have meaningful lives, and they want to go to birthday parties. It may be more difficult at times to understand my child. But the laughter and love that you share doesn’t need interpretation,” she wrote.

However, she also put some blame on herself for not doing more to educate families about Down Syndrome.

“I realize that it’s my obligation as his parent and advocate to educate people more about what it means to have Down Syndrome and how they are more like you than different…I now know how important it is to talk about it and it’s something I am committed to doing a better job of…Please know that I am here to talk if you would like. I may be a mama bear but I am not a scary person…I recognize that we all make mistakes and at the end of the day, I think we both could have done better,” she wrote.

Ms Kiss-Engele encouraged the parent to talk with her child and teach the parent that it is not okay to discriminate against someone just because of ‘disability, race, or gender’.

Her post has since been liked over 13,000 times and shared more than 4,300 times.

In a follow up post, Ms Kiss-Engele said that the parent, whose identity was not revealed, had a change of heart and gave a “happy ending to her story.

“I want you to know that there is a happy ending to this story. The parent read my letter, spoke to their child about Sawyer, and the child created a special birthday invite for Sawyer. Of course he’s been beaming ever since and can’t stop talking about it.”

Sources: Dailymail.co.uk and Thesun.co.uk