Kids
Tricia Chiongbian Concepcion Shares Raising Her Son with Down Syndrome
Tricia Chiongbian Concepcion shares her heartwarming story of raising Rory who has Down Syndrome.
We know that the science behind Down Syndrome is because of an additional chromosome. But what would life be like raising a child with the condition? In light of Down Syndrome Awareness month, Tricia Chiongbian Concepcion shares her story to us about raising Rory and how his life has been ever since the pandemic and their move to the US.
Life with Rory
“Rory is pure joy. Even when he gets kid-typical naughty, it is very hard to feel anything but delight especially in his adorable way of saying ‘sorry.’ But of course, the challenges never seem to end — top of mind would be having to always be present to be sure he is safe. There are no downtimes with him,” says Tricia.
Tricia enjoys Rory’s desire to communicate with them in which he uses an iPad to assist him. “Rory loves to play with his Augmentative and Alternative Communication device – it’s basically an iPad with an app that helps him speak to any of us, saying things like he wants to go to sleep, or have a snack, etc. When he uses it, Rory tries to discover many other items to say like the planets and Jollibee,” she says.
He’s shown to be quite the curious boy, too. “Rory likes going for a walk, going for a drive around town, and watching videos on YouTube Kids. And his favorite holiday is Halloween. This year, his costume will be Blippi,” she shares.
Tricia Chiongbian Concepcion and Her Family: The Quarantine Experts
Children with Down Syndrome are more prone to suffering from infections and viruses because their immune system isn’t like others. They’re more prone to getting sick, which is why Tricia shares that the whole family is known for being “quarantine experts.” Once the pandemic hit, she knew it wouldn’t be too different.
“When the pandemic began, we were saying that our family was already an expert in quarantine, hand washing, and wearing masks. We had that routine way before the world was affected by COVID-19. Even the isolation and staying home was ‘normal’ for Rory because we really couldn’t take him out anywhere because he was immunocompromised,” explains Tricia. “His various pre-school teachers and therapists (OT, PT, and speech) actually went to our house because Rory couldn’t be around kids. When doctors finally cleared Rory for real school, he loved it. He says his favorite in school is recess.”
Raising Rory with Pablo
Sometimes, teaching our other kids about how some kids are different from them could be taxing. But Tricia’s glad that Pablo’s been playing a good big brother to Rory. She says, “We are so blessed that our elder son, Pablo, has a genuinely kind heart. There’s the usual big brother-baby brother roughness, but Pablo is really a good ‘Kuya’ to Rory. I love the stories Pablo has been telling us recently about how he plays with ‘Special Ed’ students at his own school – that Pablo understands how they are, so Pablo is more patient with them and gives them extra attention.”
As Tricia looks back at how much their family has gone through, she realizes that she’s willing to fight any crises to make life easier for all of them. “Looking back now, it amazes us how we adjusted quickly and naturally to this new life. When you have to do mom and dad stuff at crisis levels, you know what to do when it’s based on love.”
Thank you for sharing your story with us, Tricia! Here are more stories about Down Syndrome to become more aware:
Down Syndrome Awareness: The Love and Compassion of Two Sisters
Having A Child With Down Syndrome Is A Blessing Says Akiko Thomson and Chips Guevara
Read The Touching Story This Mom Wrote About The Moment She Found Out Her Son Had Down Syndrome
