Sergio is twenty-four years old. He works as a gardener for the city of Rome's parks maintenance service. He is happy with his work and with life in general.
He lives with his parents. His two sisters have moved out but stayed in the neighborhood and see Sergio and his parents often.
Sergio is still part of the scout group he has belonged to for many years: he goes to weekly meetings, outings, and camping trips.
His work as a gardener ends at two in the afternoon, which leaves him free to go to the pool twice a week.
This well-balanced life is the fruit of long and careful nurturing that brought out the boy's natural strengths.
His handicap was not identified until he was eight months old. He had Down syndrome, but it was not immediately obvious—his grandmother noticed something was wrong, and her suspicions were confirmed by a specialist. Following the specialist's guidance, the entire family committed to stimulating his development. They also decided to treat him as normally as possible.
He started to speak at three years old and had speech therapy for two and a half years. After attending a Montessori preschool, he entered the neighborhood school, where he had no serious problems. "He didn't have a special aide," his mother says, "but at first they asked me to drop him off at ten-thirty so they could welcome him into a class that was already going smoothly. He could already read and write from his work with the speech therapist." Today he writes without errors.
In middle school he had a support teacher. The first year brought difficulties: other parents tended to blame all their children's struggles on Sergio's presence in the classroom. It's true that he could become aggressive when classmates bothered him, and some seemed to do it on purpose.
After middle school, at fourteen, the boy stayed home for a year because there were no concrete options. He took private lessons, traveling to them alone by bus. At fifteen he began attending the city of Rome's gardening school. Among thirty students there, six were handicapped. After three years Sergio was hired along with one non-handicapped classmate. "It was wonderful with Sergio," his mother recalls. Everyone welcomed him warmly.
I should add, knowing Sergio for many years myself, that he is a very likable young man—affectionate, joyful, and fun. But it is also true that he can have serious conflicts with others, sometimes for reasons that aren't clear. He can become quite sad when something goes wrong.
Today he seems to have found real balance. He works in a group of three people responsible for maintaining the gardens. He uses a fan rake and does it very well. His coworkers show real care toward him.
He is now a permanent employee. He gets up at six in the morning and takes the bus alone. He doesn't work for the money—he brings his paycheck home, spends a little on music cassettes or other things he likes, but money has no real meaning to him. "He's happy to work," his mother says. "He's good at what he does, and he likes this regular, ordered life." What he finds hard is change. At home too he has regular chores: he keeps his room and the hallway clean and tidy. His mother explained that he should help around the house like everyone else, and he understood and accepted this very well.
Sergio knows he is a real worker, that he is loved, and that he is not made fun of. He understands what happens around him because his needs are simple and his tasks are regular and concrete.
The good results he has achieved may come from many causes, but I want to highlight these above all:
- his natural abilities
- his positive temperament
- a warm but also disciplined family atmosphere
- careful schooling well supported at every stage
- a realistic choice of trade
- the overall balance of his life outside of work
- Nicole Schulthes