Lelia is four years old. As you can see from these photographs, she is a delightful child. She is lively, talkative, and full of joy. She was born with Down syndrome, as we call it today. Already in her short life, she has known both great human tenderness and real anguish—problems and medical interventions that have shaped her path.
When she was born, the doctor spoke to her father and asked him to say nothing to her mother. From the first day, the baby had to stay in the hospital, but the explanations given to her mother were vague and unconvincing. Ten days later, when Lelia came home, her mother already sensed something was wrong. Still, when the truth was finally told to her, she was shattered—especially because the doctor had suggested that she abandon the child and warned of a bleak future ahead.
Lelia came home to a father weighed down by depression and a mother gripped by fear. Her mother immediately began searching for answers in books and consulting doctors she knew. But their advice only deepened her sense of helplessness; she didn't feel equal to following it. On top of everything, Lelia had difficulty swallowing and very low muscle tone, and her father remained depressed. Fortunately, a friend who worked as a therapist began to encourage her, helping her see the child in a positive light. That hope changed everything.
When Lelia was seven months old, a physical therapist recommended specialized exercises to help overcome her low muscle tone. The relief her mother felt was immediate. She says now that "she would never have known how to do what that therapist did." Through consistent treatment—twice a week—Lelia's progress was rapid. By age two, she could walk. When she was eleven months old, a young specialist in psychomotor development came to work with her at home for a year. This allowed her mother to return to work—another step toward normalcy. The young woman brought not just her skill but her joy in living, and she became a wonderful source of encouragement for Lelia's continued growth.
Lelia is not an only child. She has an older brother, two years her senior, who loves her dearly.
When she turned two and a half, her parents—with careful thought and deliberate choice—enrolled her in a daycare center where she found a welcoming environment that made her happy.
This school year, Lelia attends a kindergarten whose director her mother knows personally. It's a municipal school, though not the one in her neighborhood. Her integration was excellent from the start. A support teacher was brought in immediately, someone who works with the whole class but gives special attention to Lelia when she needs it.
Three afternoons a week, Lelia continues psychomotor therapy, and for more than six months she has been doing speech therapy. She spoke very little at first, but has made remarkable progress.
Shortly after her birth, her parents made contact with the Down Syndrome Association and attended their meetings regularly. There they received useful information and met other parents with whom they could share common concerns.
Most importantly, when Lelia was nine months old, they discovered La Nostra Famiglia in Bosisio Parini. There they found a team that was not only extraordinarily skilled but also radiated genuine human warmth. Every year the entire family spends a week there for a comprehensive evaluation that includes cardiac, eye, neurological, and psychological examinations, on-site therapy, and a care plan for the coming year. This plan is then shared with the professionals in Rome who work with Lelia, and it is followed carefully with results that everyone has appreciated.
In the beginning, the most effective supports for Lelia's mother were friendship and faith. In time, practical help—both human and professional—created around the child and her family a network of care that has allowed Lelia to become the truly delightful child she is today.
- Nicole Schulthes, 1991