Declan is 7 years old and lives in Redcar, Cleveland. Mum describes him as a Holy Terror. Declan cannot speak very well but is excellent at signing, he is learning BSL and is already better than Mum and Dad. He currently attends Kirkleatham Hall which is a special school, Declan loves it!!! He goes horseriding and swimming weekly and has an occupational therapist, a speech therapist, a physiotherapist and the school nurse all on tap!When he is at home, Declan loves to watch the Teletubbies and drives his mum mad with Simpson's videos(Mum hates the Simpsons). Like most of our children, Declan is very determined and has become an accomplished escapologist. Dad has had to put a six foot fence around the garden to stop his escaping tricks. Unfortunately, the dog wishes she could still escape from Declan's clutches, whenever she is panting Declan insists on trying to push her tongue back into her mouth while telling her that's a NO NO.
Declan has no heart condition but he does have severe asthma, a collapsed right upper lobe of his lung and scar tissue on both lungs. This means he frequently gives his family scares with attacks of croup which mean an overnight stay in hospital for oxygen and steroids. No doubt, Declan enjoys the attention he receives!
Declan is a typical little boy cheeky but very loving, his favourite game at the moment is pinching your chair as soon as you get off it then telling you HA HA HA. Mum, Dad and the rest of the family think he is gorgeous.
Declan is also famous, he has been the subject of a number of newspaper articles. Readers of the Down's Syndrome Association Newsletter may recognise him from an article concerning IKEA. He is again in the press at the moment with his fight to have an extension built to give him somewhere dust free to play.
