SYDNEY

PHOTO BY RANDY BACON

SYDNEY

“Dream Big”

About my life....I have a great family. I’ve been a model in Kansas City Fashion Week. I won prom queen. I have a boyfriend. My favorite thing about life is coloring with my dad and coloring with my brother. My dream in life is to go to college, and have my degree. I want to buy a house. I want to be an oncologist nurse and work at a hospital. I want to tell people to dream big!

LISA (Sydney's mother)

When Sydney was first born, we didn’t know she had Down syndrome. She’s changed how we view life. So many people get caught up in materialistic things and how people look instead of really getting to know a person.

Sydney has this positive outlook on life, she cares about people and really wants them to feel better about themselves. I remember a time when she was at school and there was a kid that was being bullied, and she went over and sat next to that kid because she wanted to make that child feel better. A lot of her peers didn’t do that. Sydney is compassionate, caring, positive and determined.

The hardest part is wanting your child to fit in and be socially accepted. Not everyone is accepting of our kids, and it makes me sad. Sydney has so much to offer to others. I will say we have been lucky with the schools Sydney has attended. Most of the students were kind to her. It’s also hard hoping when your child is an adult they can take care of themselves. We worry about people taking advantage of her.

The thing that I’ve learned is to take one day at a time and don’t think about all the things that you’re kid can’t do, but focus on the things that they can do. She has a lot of the same hopes and dreams that her peers have, so we want to get her as close to those dreams as possible.