I just wish I knew what to do.

Every day, my son, Karson, comes to me in a torrent of tears.  It's always the same thing:  kids teasing him yet again about his mental disabilities.  If it isn't at  the park, it's at school when school is in session. 

Even worse, adults even join in the catcalls.  They either stare at him or make rude comments just because he can't read anything above baby-level books or write his name or numbers -- and he's 12 years old.

It's enough to break my heart.

Karson was born two months premature, weighing just over 2 pounds.  He was a tiny peanut of a child; he spent three months in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, fighting to survive.  He eventually got over his rough start in life, but it was discovered that he had the signs of Down syndrome, a chromosomal disorder causing mental retardation and accompanying physical features (almond-shaped eyes, round, moon-shaped face, thick neck, large tongue inside a too-small mouth, one single crease in the palm of his hands, shortened fingers and toes, heart and/or lung issues, among other symptoms).

The news was devastating, as you can probably well imagine.

We had a hard time trying to accept that our younger child was born handicapped, but we were determined to make his life the best one possible, even with having to face things like hospital stays or surgeries, physical/speech/auditory/occupational therapies, and early-intervention programs to help his develeopmental, social, and physical skills, so he could be nearer his classmates in terms of reaching his developmental milestones.

Karson was a happy child ... then he entered school.  His life went downhill fast.  The other kids just didn't understand what Down syndrome was or what it entailed.  They made fun of Karson because he was not like the other kids; he stood out, a thorn among a bed of roses. 

Karson soon became sad, unhappy.  It seemed the older he got, the worse the teasing got.  Now he's twelve years old, and he's already thinking about killing himself, so he wouldn't have to put up with the constant teasing.  You can't imagine what this does to me, his mother.  Every time I hear him saying that he wants to be dead, it about shatters me, because he has so much potential, if people would only look past his obvious problems and see the child I do.

It has gotten to be so bad I am seriously thinking about homeschooling him when school starts back up next month, or at least putting him in a private school where Christian values are taught as part of the everyday curriculum.

I have tried everything possible to help my son deal with the teasing, but when it is constant and something that happens every day, I'm at a loss.  I just wish people would make things easier on him; I am tired of having to defend him or having to deal with bullies on a daily basis!  Why can't they just accept Karson the way he is, like I do????

*to be continued.*