Update: July 31, 2006

Just wanted to send a quick update and tell you that we had a wonderful time
at our first SOFT conference. I am very glad we had the opportunity to attend and will look forward to going again. I was able to meet and visit with several of the trisomy 13 families as well as meet some other families with trisomy related syndromes.

I saw several of the other trisomy children actually pushing themselves in their wheelchair and was amazed at how well they could handle the chair...Of course Natalia will need some guidance, but I think she can handle this just fine. We already have an appointment with our physical therapist to add this to Natalia's program...I also found out about a wonderful touch screen computer program that will allow Natalia to journal her day...So we'll be checking more into that with her new IEP program in the Fall.

Overall it was a very nice weekend - The Clinics and Workshops were nice, and the team in Chicago did a wonderful task of bringing all this together for the many families who were able to attend.

I was surprised by the many families that attended that had Trisomy Angels in Heaven. I didn't know there would be so many. One family lost their child over 14 years ago, and have come to the conference each year. When I asked a few why they attend year after year, their comments really touched my heart. One family said, "They saw the eyes of their child in the eyes of our living children" -- WOW! Being our first year, I really didn't know what to expect, but what I found were many loving and thoughtful families giving of their time to support us, not just trisomy families, but part of the Chicago community...supporting those with living kids and those families with Angels. Thanks again to the SOFT Organization and Noah's Never Ending Rainbow for helping us with funding to this conference. If you are touched by some of the stories on this site and want to make a difference in the trisomy community, I would ask that you make a donation to either of these
two organizations as they help families each year meet up with one another at the yearly SOFT conventions...

Many Blessings,
ThereseAnn
 

Blessings to you all,
Thank you for sharing in our precious Natalia,
ThereseAnn  ....Click here to read more>