Our daughter Lexi has Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome) and Autism, and these are her zany adventures.  

On The Road

Lexi loves to go for trips in the car.  She is essentially non-verbal, so there’s quite a bit of guesswork when it comes to what she wants.   Many times we’ll just say “show me,” and that’s when she walks over to the fridge to get the milk out or snag a cheese stick or find a Wii Controller to pull up Wheels on the Bus, which is her favorite soap opera.

We can tell she wants to go for a ride when she zeros in on the car door and attempts to open it.  Should the door be unlocked, she’s in and ready to go.  Where?  That doesn’t matter.  She just wants to go.  Sometimes all that driving makes a thirsty Lexi, which causes her to tap tap tap on my driving shoulder to make the sign for drink.  After spilling cup after cup of milk in the car and leaving it to the summer heat to become carpet cottage cheese, we’ve lately chosen water as her primary thirst quencher.

Yesterday we went to see the train.  Her dad (me) loves trains.  The momentum, the power, the getting things done. When I heard a rumor that a train was headed down our local tracks, the rumor being the horn of the train, we headed that way.  I parked the car near the tracks.  Lexi and I waited.  I was excited, she was largely oblivious… until… BWAAAAAAAAAA.  That got her attention.  Big time.  At first she was upset, then it all became part of the scenery.  The rhythm of the train wheels, the subtle shaking of the car as the earth dipped to the tonnage, it was music to her ears.

You know the joys of showing a little kid something they’ve never seen before?  That’s kind of what it’s like to watch Lexi react to something.  For her, it’s a unique experience because it’s not yet familiar.  She knows what a piano does, so she goes up and plays it, no matter where it is or who’s around.  She knows what a computer can do with access to YouTube, so she lunges for the keyboard — even at the Doctor’s office.  That she wants to go on an adventure in the car is pretty neat.  It sure beats wandering around the house all day.

Who knows where she’ll want to go next time?