特殊的连接

本文最初由特约撰稿人马克纳·科茨于2019年3月14日发表在《慈悲山时报》上。

给予那些有特殊需要的人的热情是凯尔西·萨瑟（Kelsey Suther）将终生珍惜的东西。

在过去的六年里，Suther为林恩县地区的家庭提供了Respite和SCL的家庭护理，这些家庭的亲人患有唐氏综合症。 The primary focus of Suther’s job is to provide care to the individual with special needs to improve their daily life skills so they can become a more independent person in society.

“Watching a child succeed in a goal that we have been working on together is definitely the best part of my job," said Suther. “特殊需求社区对我来说太特别了。 看到每个人对彼此的爱真是太棒了。”

在这个社区里，萨瑟指出，她喜欢在如何接受有特殊需要的人方面成为其他人的榜样。

“To those with special needs, being yourself is good enough,” Suther said.

“To those with special needs, being yourself is good enough."

Suther目前与六个家庭合作，但多年来，她总共参与了9个家庭的工作，也是hada组织的一员，hada组织是鹰眼地区唐氏综合症协会。

“This group involves families, class friends, care-takers, and volunteers who have loved ones with Down Syndrome in order to form a community together,” said Suther. “In this group, we are all able to form relationships with other people who work with or have loved ones with Down Syndrome. It is one big family.”

在过去的六年里，Suther不仅把特殊需要社区作为她生活的一部分，而且还把她的激情带到了她未来的职业生涯中。

Suther主修基础教育，辅修PreK-K和特殊教育。

“我最初只是打算成为一名幼儿园老师，但在参与唐氏综合症社区之后，我知道与有特殊需要的孩子一起工作是我的激情所在，”Suther说。 “I want to work with these kids in and out of the classroom."

看到皇冠体育主动为有特殊需要的社区举办活动，Suther感到很谦卑。 在过去的几年里，皇冠体育在轩尼诗娱乐中心举办了特奥会篮球比赛。 This year’s competition had to be canceled due to inclement weather. 萨瑟充分利用了自己在校园举办的这些活动中担任志愿者的机会。

"The best thing about these events is that I meet so many new people and build connections with those who are involved with the special needs community.”

“I value spending time with them and seeing them smile when they are doing something they love, like playing basketball," said Suther. "The best thing about these events is that I meet so many new people and build connections with those who are involved with the special needs community.”

Suther鼓励其他皇冠体育学生在校园的这些活动中做志愿者，因为这些活动很可能会改变他们的生活。