This
is a book about a mother's experience adopting and bringing up a child
with Down
syndrome.
In 1986,
Martha Lev-Zion, a single woman in her 40s, heard about a TV
documentary regarding 22 children with severe birth defects who had
been abandoned by their birth parents in Israeli hospitals. Martha
applied for one of those babies, but was told that of the 65
applications received, hers would be the last one considered. In the
end, with only one baby remaining, Martha took into her care a
14-month-old girl with Down syndrome. This book relates the amazing
journey of Martha's life raising her daughter Tamar.
Interwoven
with her experiences fighting Israeli governmental authorities, school
systems, the birth family, and even the U.S. government, is her
commitment to bring up her daughter as normally as possible, and the
incredible accomplishments her daughter was able to achieve.
When
she was 14 months old, Tamar was tested and found to
have an IQ of between 45-60. Today she is a young woman of 21, living
independently,
with a job as an assistant secretary at a university.
She still has some of the
characteristics of
a person with Down syndrome, but Martha’s commitment to
maximize Tamar’s
potential is something Martha feels any parent should do in rearing ANY
child.
6" x 9" 208 pp. softcover $19.95 - also Kindle version
Order softcover version - $19.95
  Order Kindle version - $9.95
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Read sample from book |
Excerpts from book
“I
was determined to make this a success and to give it all I could so
that this child, who had been abandoned since the day of her birth
fourteen months earlier, would know that she was loved, would learn to
be as independent as she possibly could, and would live up to whatever
potential she had inside her.”
“Every
second of Tamar’s wakeful hours was spent in stimulation. We
didn’t go down the stairs without counting the steps; I
pointed
out every leaf form, color, texture; we smelled flowers and trees; we
looked at soft earth and cement; we looked at angles and shapes of
every single thing; we spotted different birds and listened to their
various chirping patterns…”
“He
held it up in front of my eyes and I read: the United States of America
is not required to allow visas to the following categories of
applicants—ex-convicts, dope addicts, or the mentally
retarded.”
“Other
parents, seeing Tamar as she progressed, insisted that she was
exceptional, and that their children never could do as well as she. I
am convinced that it is this very attitude that hobbled their children.
If you expect nothing, you get nothing.”
“I
bless the day that Tamar’s abandonment led to my taking
Tamar.”
Contents
The Beginnings 1
It’s Official! 25
Education and the Travails of Tamar’s Life 37
Tamar Becomes Bat Mitzvah 53
Working With Down’s 69
The Biological Family 75
Learning With Tamar 84
Tamar and Her Adoption 132
Reevaluation of the Entire Educational System 143
Tamar’s Unexpected Adventure 155
Back to School Again 158
When I Grow Up, I Want to Be... 160
The End: A New Beginning 166
For New Parents of a Child with Down Syndrome 169
Postscript 171
Family Album 173
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