All about raising Alan

‘Down’s Syndrome is not going to stop my son from leading a wonderful life’

was 33 years old when Alan was born. He had a flat nose, almond-shaped eyes, and short limbs. He looked like a doll. I felt blessed. A few hours later, I was told that he had Down’s Syndrome and was born without an anus.

I wept uncontrollably. But even before I could absorb what Down’s Syndrome meant, he was whisked away to a neo-natal intensive care unit for his first pull-through surgery. His second and third were performed at intervals of a few months each. He was the first baby to undergo laparoscopy in Chennai under the guidance of a group of surgeons from Switzerland.

Everyone, including doctors, told me that I would not be able to cope and that life as I knew it would be over if I kept Alan. But I refused to give up my baby and vowed to raise him myself.

They were wrong: having Alan is the best thing that has ever happened to me. He changed my life for the better; he made me a stronger person.

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Too much help with homework can hinder your child’s learning progress

Parents are often guilty of helping their child a bit too much with their homework. Sometimes the homework battle can be made that little bit easier if you just tell your child what to do, or simply do it for them. At least it’s been done, you think.

Teachers have spoken of parents writing their children’s assignments, taking on the homework responsibility and emailing teachers out of hours, or, as in one case, turning up at a teacher’s home on the weekend to ask about the homework that was set.

But research shows that giving your child too much help could actually hinder their skills development and lead them to feel incompetent.

Help with homework can be filled with tension or create pressure to succeed for the child.

That’s not to say that parents shouldn’t get involved, as research shows this is an important factor in academic success. But parents need to know when it’s appropriate to do this, and when to step back.

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