Hi Again!

[Guest guest]

Wow... where do I start? I feel a bit strange about sending this

update, but it comes at the prodding of Judi and who I found

on facebook. (And who can say no to these women?) I can't even begin

to tell you how often I think about all of you guys and your beautiful

children. I have often tried to find a few of you on facebook to see

how everyone is doing.

For those of you who I don't know... I started this group when I was

14 after meeting several of you at NDSS Conferences, Buddy Walks, etc

.... each person thinking/believing that they were the only ones with

Multiples w/ DS. A few years ago I was really happy to see how well it

was doing and felt I (as a non-parent of Multiples) should step away

and let the group be run and used by parents of Multiples only. I

don't plan to go back on that plan... This group still is and I hope

always will be for families like yours. In my opinion, very lucky

families!

As some of you might remember... I lost a very special baby girl with

DS who I was nanny for when I was 13, who inspired me to advocate for

people with DS. Throughout high school I started and independently ran

a Buddy Walk, a Best Buddy Program, and among other things I was in YM

Prom Magazine for taking my good friend, Darren, as my date to the

prom. (Darren happens to have DS and was not allowed to attend our

prom due to some nasty politics. BTW, Darren and I are still in touch

and he is doing awesome these days as well!) I then went to the Middle

East to start University and worked in a few orphanages for children

with special needs and then an adult program that was just starting in

Tiveria, Israel for adults with special needs. I also interned at Dr.

Feuerstein's center in Jerusalem - the Center for the Advancement of

Human Potential ... a really cool school for kids with DS and similar

needs. At the end of my college career I became an emergency foster

parent for infants with special needs... fostering several newborns

with DS and/or high medical needs.

So here is my update for those who remember me. Hmmm... after college

I entered the social work field and worked for a non-profit adoption

agency in NY. Working first as their special needs caseworker, then a

birth parent worker, and then a supervisor of adoptive and birth

parent services. I married Aref a little over two years ago and a year

ago his job as a professor took us to Pittsburgh, PA. I continued to

work with that agency to help them become accredited for international

adoption.. with a specific interest in providing more opportunities

for families of children with DS in countries that considered these

kids " unadoptable. " In my years with the agency we placed many

children with DS domestically... and now this agency is starting to

offer services to children with DS internationally. We also counseled

many many more families with new diagnoses of DS to learn more, have

hope, and parent if they can.

This past July my husband's job took us to Minnesota, which is where

we are now. The Midwest has taken some time for me to adjust, mostly

because our move came in the end of my first trimester of pregnancy

and I was feeling very ill for a long time. We are expecting our first

child, a son, February 26th (or somewhere around there!). (Yes, just one!)

And that's it for now...

I'd love to connect with you guys again. If you want to do it off

list, feel free to find me on facebook using this email addy

(Sara@...) or you can email me at that same place.

Wishing you all the best....

Sara Greenberg-Hassan