Bobby Carol Ann Corey Craig Dale Danielle Donnie Jacinda James & Patricia Stacy Stephen Tucker

Dale Dale was born February 21, 1974. His weight and size were normal at birth. However, Dale has Down's Syndrome. His doctor gave us an article about Down's Syndrome. It was not very positive, and it gave us little hope for Dale. It was not called Down's Syndrome then; it was Mongoloid. When he was very young, Dale progressed at a fairly normal rate. He went to Nazareth Montessori Children's Center at the age of 4. He was their first experience with a Down's person, so they were also learning. They eventually determined that there was not much difference between a Down's child and any other child, and that most of the problems were because of social ignorance. Dale's problems began when he started in St. Charles kindergarten. His teachers had a preexisting notion that Down's Syndrome children were much less capable. They had no notion of any degree of capability, just that he did not meet their standards as they thought he should. When they told us he should repeat kindergarten, we protested. The principal told us, "You have been saying he can read and do things, I'd like to see him." So I gathered up all the materials we had been using to teach Dale--little primer books for reading, flash cards (which had names of all the animals, farm tools, etc.), hickory nuts and beans for counting. When the principal heard Dale read, she said, "He qualifies for the first grade more than any other child in kindergarten." She then showed me his records. They said he could not read any words. He did not know any numbers. He did not know any colors. He could not blow his nose, and so on. I was shocked and angry. We then put him in Lebanon Elementary School but he was treated so badly, we withdrew him from school. By this time Dale spent all of his time rocking back and forth and not really paying much attention to anything. I learned about a school called Creative Education, while watching "Crusade for Children." I went to talk to Dr. McLean about Dale. I told her I had a son who had Down's Syndrome. After talking to her some more she told me that what he probably needed was a complete psychological exam and referred me to Kentuckiana Children's Center. She sang the praises of the Center and about this doctor who had come from California, with a whole new approach to healing and teaching children who have special problems. She said they used chiropractic. I called and made an appointment, even though I had never been to a chiropractor and didn't believe in them. I had heard nothing but bad things from my medical doctor and had no idea he would tell me anything else but what is best for me and my family. The staff at Kentuckiana were kind and did a thorough job on Dale. He had x-rays, a TMA(which is a hair analysis that determines which vitamins, minerals, etc. he was lacking), a psychological, an eye exam, etc. After this, Dr. Partridge (the D.C. who was director of the Clinic) came out and sat down with me in the conference room and showed me his x-rays. She explained in detail, with the help of a diagram, why adjusting his spine should correct many of his problems. They concluded he was clinically blind in his left eye, with his vision being 20/200. (I had just had his eyes checked at the health department about a week before, and they told me they were normal). The Kentuckiana doctors did not make any promises. They said if there was an improvement, we would probably see it within 6 months. We noticed a considerable difference in Dale by 6 weeks or so. All our neighbors commented on how alert he was becoming. From that time he has continued to improve. That was 9 years ago. His vision is now 20/50. And even though he has slipped from time to time, with going to the Children's Center on a weekly basis for about 8 years, and then on a bimonthly basis, he is in good shape. He just graduated from Marion County High School. He has also started his own business, "Dale's Delights", which is a candy and cake business. He will be taking a course in candy making and cake decorating to polish his skills. He is in the process of buying a home. We feel we owe a great debt to Kentuckiana Children's Center, to Dr. Golden, Dr. Partridge, and all the other staff, without whose help, I know Dale would not have progressed as well as he has. — Joan Mattingly This article appeared in the Sept/Oct, 1995 issue of ICA Review SEND EMAIL TO KENTUCKIANA Home     History     Innovative Idea   Services Studies   Founder   You Can Help     Friends

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