This page is the newest stage in my quest to connect, educate and encourage people on the subject of Down syndrome. It is nothing more than a list of the posts I write on the subject, and about life with Julianna–which doesn’t always mean there’s a strong focus on her disability. There’s plenty of information out there for new parents; the trouble is that most of it is impersonal and scary. I hope that this page will help to put a human face on the experience of parenting a young child with Down syndrome. For the highlights, look for the bold-faced posts.
The First Year
Of RSV and VSD
The End and the Beginning
In the Eye of the Beholder
Pink Cake
The Second Year
Of Julianna and Planning for the Third
Snapshot
Beyond Price
The End of Nursing
Life With the Basi kids
The Path to Walking
A Picture is Worth a Thousand words…except when it isn’t
Walls
Life with Down Syndrome
Gene
To Tell, Or Not to Tell?
The Meaning of Life
Of Julianna upon Turning Two
The Third Year
My Kid, Your Kid, Whose Kid?
Julianna
Mis-Manipulated
To Tell or Not to Tell: The Question Answered
Four Steps
Julianna, Age Two (Plus)
PICU, How I have Missed Thee (or not)
Reflections following a life-threatening illness
Standing at the Precipice
A Time for…
Yay God!
Letters to my Children, Part 2
Pigeonholed
Tipping the Scales
Slices of Sweetness
Health Care Hassles
The Fourth Year
Homecomings (or a history of hospital stays)
Waving Goodbye
The Magic Chromosome
Young Love: A Schoolbus Motherhood Moment
Nationalized Health Care, Down Syndrome, & Abortion
Twenty-One
A Nursing Story
The Twinning of the Littles
Special Exposure Wednesday
Bathed In Grace (AKA Drowned Kitten)
Because They’re Worth It
Heavenly Peace
Responding to the Un-Answerable Comment
A Writer Mama’s Motherhood Moment
Touch Points
The Fifth Year
What it’s like to receive a diagnosis of Down syndrome
The Crying Game
Blind Sided
What To Do About the Elephant In The Room
Teaching Chores…What A Chore
A Post For All Who Call Themselves Prolife
A Good Year
A Kerfuffle About Doughnuts (or: The Rules Apply To Special Needs Kids, Too!)
American Idol In Training
Touch Points, the Sequel
Shoe Shopping For Kids With Special Needs
When Julianna Laughs
Inclusion
She Loves Babies. Is That Good or Bad?
Great Expectations
The Sixth Year
When Is It Okay To Laugh?
Busted
Julianna’s New Schoolyear
Miss Pooey Goes To Kindergarten
A Regular Kid
Blossom
Rhyme And Reason (or: the reason she can’t rhyme)
The Seventh Year
What I Learned From A Kindergarten Sped Re-Eval
A Julianna Primer
Julianna’s Fan Club
Moment
It Takes A Parish
Warts And All
Words Matter: A Disability Primer
Playing Favorites
How Julianna Feels About Having Down Syndrome
Mostly Julianna
Because I Don’t Want My Daughter To Be “Peter Pan”
The Eighth Year
Just Like Me
The pros of repeating first grade
Fairy Wings
Julianna Attempts To Hijack The Eucharist
The Un-Twinning of the Littles
The Day We Lost Julianna
Down Syndrome Is Normal
The Ninth Year
The Only St. Patrick’s Day I Remember
What Bone Is The Extra Chromosome In?
In Which Julianna Finally Succeeds In Hijacking the Eucharist
A Portrait of Julianna, Age 8
The Trouble With Shoes
The Challenge of Julianna’s Charism
The Tenth Year
A Julianna Story
Pictures From The Big Day (First Communion)
On Julianna, at the end of Grade 2
She Makes It Look Easy
The Saga of Orthotics, And Why It’s Important To Talk About In An Election Year
Chicken Legs, Freckles and Pokin-A: The General Goofiness of Julianna
The Eleventh Year
Being Clear-Eyed About My Special Needs Child, And My Responsibility To Her
Fun with IEPs
Kathleen M. Basi 
Bookmarking this! My “heart-twin” brother has Down Syndrome. There definitely isn’t enough posts out there!
“Heart-twin?”
Kate, is there a defect in your link on the Fifth Year Down’s Blog post list? I click on “She loves babies” and it takes me to “The Comedienne”. Was it supposed to? And is the spelling of that word from another language? I thought the correct spelling was ‘comedian.’
Love, MOM
Hi
I came across your blog via the Sunday Snippets. I have a little 3year old boy with Down Syndrome who also had drama with heart and all sorts of other funny things, but he is the light of our life (apart from God of course). Thank you so much for writing your experience and even though it will take me a while to read through all your posts, I feel that I have found a blog I’ll certainly follow 🙂
If you would like to see what my family and my little boy are up to here in Australia, I’ll attach our website below (I am not intending to abuse your blog to make advertising for mine, that’s why I’m not putting the address into my comment).
God bless you and your family!
Hi I love your blog Julianna is precious. I have a son who has down-syndrome he is the love of my life. I remember getting the call I remember the feeling of sadness and I was scared of not knowing what to be expected but I knew I would love my baby no matter what My husband couldn’t deal with it so I ended up being a single mom raising this wonderful little boy. His name is Timmy and he is always happy not a care in the world. He has taught me patience and to love each day its always a new day.
Oh, that is a heart-rending story. I was not prepared for a child with special needs, but I am so grateful that she was given to me to stretch my heart and teach me to grow in wisdom and in general good-person-ness.