By Chantalé Fletcher
ENERGETIC ten-year-old Pedro Christoper shouts to the world: “I am a blessing!” despite having Down syndrome.
AZP NEWS spoke to Pedro and his mother, Rhoda, via Zoom on recently to discuss their unexpected life journey and experience with Down syndrome.
Rhoda recalled being six months pregnant. “My husband Anton and I were driving down Wrightson Road, Port of Spain, when I jokingly asked him a question. Babe, what if we end up with a child who’s special like with Down syndrome or something.”
Confident in himself and his partner of 12 years, Anton’s response was, “We’ll just love him,” was no surprise, and that was the start of their journey.
Welcome baby Pedro
It was a joyous occasion for the couple who welcomed their first child on November 25, 2011, until a routine check to the clinic one week after Pedro’s birth.
Rhoda said checks revealed that Pedro was very sick as he was not feeding, so they were told to visit Eric Williams Medical Sceinces Complex in Mt Hope immediately.
A very traumatic experience in her life. Rhoda said her baby boy was admitted in the hospital for 17 days.
“We almost lost him because if we hadn’t taken him to the hospital that day, my son would have died.”
Uncomfortable with the treatment received, she wanted to take him home as nobody could not have explained why he was not feeding.
Rhoda told AZP NEWS she was able to carry Pedro home under the condition that he would return for routine checks.
She said, “And when we returned, he gained more weight at home rather than staying at the hospital.”
Rhoda said, “As there was no way to determine his diagnosis before tests were conducted, as he had some of the features but not all. Even at four-months-old, Pedro was stronger than most children with Down syndrome, during his doctor’s visit, he moved a lot, ripping the paper on the examination table most times.”
Photo: DSFN
Still concerned, his parents sought private medical as his doctor worked well with him during the early developmental stage.
Rhoda said his test was done away and upon return it was confirmed he had Down syndrome.
Asked if Pedro’s diagnosis has affected family life, Rhoda said, “Although we lack experience, we were never and will never be scared for him.
“We are more concerned about how people would treat him and whether they would give him a chance.”
She said at an early age, he experienced both sides where persons openly rejected him, but more people openly accepted him.
Brotherly love
Christopher also has a younger brother, eight-year-old Benito, who he loves dearly and is his best friend.
Rhoda said Benito does not have Down syndrome.
She said, “Pedro and Benito are each other’s right hand and left hands and have become inseparable. Their connection was formed even before Benito was born and after Pedro went off to pre-school, his brother barely smiled.”
She said Benito often understood his brother’s condition but sometimes felt invisible as people would often see Pedro more because of his loud personality.
Rhoda is a secondary school teacher while her husband works at the Ministry of Finance.
She admitted some days were tough especially when Pedro has no desire to do school work.
“He and his brother are both in Standard Two at St Patrick’s Newtown Boys RC School, which is an environment with high expectations, so we try our best to keep our game up.”
Rhoda added, “Sometimes I quarrel but empathise with him and his brother. With Pedro, more pressure means he’ll pull away, so we slow down, change the method, allow time for rest and he’s good after.”
She said Pedro can communicate many things but learning to express his feelings was still in progress.
“He may not be able to say how he feels but his actions alert us,” his mother said.
Superman in his right
Rhoda credited the dedication of his past and current teachers, occupational therapist and speech therapist and doctor for a great foundation, to the awesome child he is now.
Pedro is quite active, since pre-school, he participated in gymnastics, which led to football, steel pan in primary school amongst learning to play the piano and reading music.
She said, “At one point, he had an activity every day of the week except Sunday.”
In addition, he also participates in dancing and drama in Lilliput Children’s Theatre with Noble Douglas.
Pedro told AZPNEWS, “I like drama class, dancing and my favourite colour is blue. My favourite foods are fried chicken and chips, and bake with cheese, peanut butter and jam.”
He also added that he wanted to be a firefighter – one of his many career options.
Asked who was his favourite superhero, Pedro responded Wonder Woman. He said, “My mommy is my Wonder Woman, and I am Superman.”
Pedro also referred to his father and brother as superheroes.
He loves fishes and hamsters and was fascinated over Benito’s hamster who recently had four babies.
His mother said, besides the activities Pedro has also made First Communion at St Theresa’s RC Church in Woodbrook and wants to become an altar server but would have to wait on for training to resume.
On her downtime, Rhoda enjoys playing video games, chatting with friends, music and watching Netflix.
Advice to parents in similar circumstances
“Presume Competence,” was one of the advice she had for parents with children with special needs.
Rhoda said, “As parents, we are our children’s cheerleaders, if we believe in them, we also encourage them to believe in themselves.
“Presume they can do it and let them and they will show you how much they can do.”
Rhoda said, “Pedro is an awesome dynamic human being. See the child before his Down syndrome because you would miss out on a great thing. He has a lot to offer this world and Trinidad and Tobago, so give him a chance.”
Rhoda also thanked the Down Syndrome Family Network (DSFN) which continued to play a pivotal role in all aspects of Pedro’s life.
She laughed, it was almost like faith, as the DSFN was founded in 2011, the same year Pedro was born.
“He was a baby when I learnt of them, they had their first Buddy Walk at Nelson Mandela Park. So I strapped him onto me and we went walking, now today a strong bond has been formed.”
