WOW, She IS Super!!

Who's super?  America's Supernanny!!

I know this has been all over Facebook over the last few days, but I, myself, have not been all over Facebook much recently.  Oh, I know I update my status from time to time, but mostly that's from my phone, rather than from the simple comfort of my computer.  Thus, my ability to surf is cut back a bit.  I have said before that I'm a selfish Facebooker, and there is no small amount of guilt attached to that when people are so kind to comment on my posts and compliment my photos, and I feel like I miss so much of what everyone else is doing.

Wait...this post was not originally supposed to be about Facebook...I guess my guilty conscience needed a bit of purging, and yes, I feel better now.  Whew!

Back to the topic...America's Supernanny...

I am no longer a person who feels the absolute burning need to watch/read everything that comes along that involves someone with Down syndrome.  If you are one of those people, it's not a bad thing, and I have definitely been there myself.  Actually, at that time, I never thought there'd come a time that I'd ever say that I wasn't one anymore!  I think our lives have become settled and routine enough, with Down syndrome becoming such a back-seat topic, that I'm kind of at a take-it-or-leave-it place.  Doesn't mean I'm not interested, though, because I am.  I'm just not craving as much information as I was. 

When I heard that the new series, America's Supernanny, was going to feature an episode involving a family with a child with Down syndrome, a child whose behaviors were causing a rift between husband and wife, parents and children, I was a little bit ambivalent about watching it.  I set the DVR to record it, just in case, and Steve expressed some concerns that the show may make the child with Ds out to be a problem, rather than addressing the parents' inabilities to parent the child - pretty much the same page I was on in my reticence to watch. 

I watched it on my own lastnight, cautious, and not expecting much. 

And I was floored. 

This woman, Deborah Tillman, seriously knows what she's doing.  Apparently she has a degree in Special Education, and to see her in action with the child and with the parents was truly amazing.  No condescension towards the boy, plenty of scolding of the parents for setting low expectations for him, and loads of positive reinforcement and tools in place to help the parents learn how to parent him effectively while modifying negative behaviors and encouraging the positive ones. 

She also gave a very concise lesson to the audience about what Down syndrome is, and what it means for the 1-in-700 children born with it.  She explained it pretty much the way any of us would explain it, and I applauded her.

So positive, so mind-changing for anyone watching, such an excellent step in the right direction.

Ms. Tillman is from this area, and has 3 childcare centers that she owns and operates.  It's interesting, if you look at the website for the centers, it gives her name as one of the two people to contact for information.  Grounded, available, knowledgeable.  Just the kind of person we'd want overseeing our children's education! 

Okay, back to not reading Facebook...