Alex

Alex

“Alex’s self-confidence has sky-rocketed.”

At birth Alex displayed extreme hypotonia also know as floppy baby syndrome, along with facial features and hand markings associated with the condition, Alex’s parents were told she had Down Syndrome. The prognosis was not particularly “sunny”. Alex’s parents were told that Alex would be mentally and physically disabled, that she may not walk due to extreme muscle dysfunction, that she may have alopecia, that she would have a poor memory, that she would be constantly prone to infection and that she had a higher than normal chance of developing leukaemia before the age of 6. Her parents were then given the option of institutionalising their newly born baby, which was common practise at the time.

Catherine, Alex’s mother, talks about how Down syndrome has been an interesting condition to deal with in terms of social acceptance. Alex was born in 1990, a time when people in the community were still not used to seeing disabled people walking the streets. As a child in her pusher, Catherine recalls people commenting and even stopping for a second look.

Catherine says that before being offered a position at Hamlet, they struggled to find Alex a meaningful position. She works two days a week with an Australian Disability Enterprise where she deals with bulk printing mail. And the rest of the week attends a second disability support provider where there is no “job” or training provided- often due to lack of funds these organisations are unable to provide staff with the qualifications or know how to encourage Alex to improve her situation or develop new skills.

Catherine says that Hamlet has been quite a different story. Alex’s self-confidence has sky-rocketed. This is because Alex has met a group of people who challenge her not only to do her best, but who constantly make it clear that they have reasonable expectations that she should meet.

Alex has developed in ways that even her family did not expect. Her increased verbal confidence has won her a part-time position with a veterinary clinic.

Catherine says that over the past 26 years huge steps have been made in terms of social acceptance of people with a disability in our community, however, there is still a long way to go in terms of allowing people like Alex to reach their potential and make a meaningful contribution within their community. Catherine believes that Hamlet’s staff’s position as role models is invaluable to Alex. She thinks the experience that Alex at Hamlet really is changing her life.

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