Faith, Grace, and Down Syndrome

In powerful and poignant separate memoirs, authors Amy Julia Becker and Kathryn Soper share their individual journeys as mothers of children with Down syndrome. Revealing both the struggles and joys of raising a child with special needs, each woman also discloses the challenging theological questions she wrestled with along the way.

Patheos invited each author to interview the other as only one such mother to another could do. Their gracious responses follow.

Amy Julia Becker: You write about teaching your children to look for Thomas' gifts as he grows up. Now that he is older, have you begun to see some of those gifts?

Kathryn Soper: Yes, many gifts, from cognitive to social to spiritual. At age six Thomas, has not yet spoken his first word, but his understanding of the world continually surprises us. He has strong right-brain skills, including a passion for numbers and patterns; he can play simple melodies on his keyboard—a few months ago he shocked us by playing the Star Wars theme!—and he scolds me when I take a "wrong" turn in the car (meaning, a turn that doesn't lead to one of his favorite places). His straight-up approach to life reminds me to shed self-consciousness and live authentically, and his straight-up approach to people reminds me to be no respecter of persons.