Kilcullen author's book on Down syndrome challenges
Dorly, who is also a Global Health Volunteer with Atlantic Humanitarian Relief, giving a TED talk about working with Syrian refugee children in her 'third age'.
Bringing up a child with Down syndrome and autism is challenging, and can become even more so as the child reaches their teens. There's also a dearth of first-hand accounts of this particular aspect of parenting for those who find themselves in the situation. That's why Dorly O'Sullivan from Kilcullen started a blog 15 years ago, to document how she and her husband Barney, and their other children, were managing. That blog has now become a book, Damien: A life for my son.
Dorly began her 'mumsnautism' blog when Damien was in his early teens, and issues with aggressive behaviour had surfaced. Through 184 pages in the new book, the reader becomes invested in that story, which ends when Damien finally becomes a resident at Camphill Grangebeg.
Damien is the youngest of five children born to Dorly and Barney, and between the covers of Damien: A life for my son, there is an honest reflection of the emotions and frustrations that are part of the situation the O'Sullivans found themselves in. But there is also fun and even notes of hilarity through the stories, which deal with the daily things in any family's life, with an edge that doing them with Damien adds to the mix.
Most of all, there is love. All encompassing, all inclusive, and a family fiercely protective of that love for each other, even in the middle of sometimes chaos. Damien is a story of learning a new life language, of falling and getting up again, of faltering, persevering, and discovering.
Dorly recalls that when they realised they had a Down syndrome baby, they bought a book about it. "It was shocking, all the things that could go wrong," she says. "After a couple of days, I put the book away and never saw it again. I reckoned we did not have to become experts in all the ailments that could befall a child with Down syndrome; we only had to deal with whatever Damien brought with him, and we would become experts in that."
Unlike that other unnamed book, Damien: A life for my son offers hope to any family on the same journey. Even for those not in that situation, it is a heartwarming account of making life work, whatever it is. Available in hardback from Woodbine Books, Kilcullen, €20, or as a Kindle e-book on Amazon.
