The Speech

This speech was written by Kathryn (aged 9) and entered into a 4-H Speech Competition in her hometown in Kentucky,  USA. The competition is a national one assigned by the school. She won first prize in the first round of competition for her age group in the county; and I am sure when you read it, you will agree she deserves her prize as it is a fantastic speech, especially when you consider her youth. 

"Friendship grows mysteriously between people as a mutual gift." I have a little sister named Kelsey. She is my best friend. She also has something called Down syndrome. 

Now, you are probably sitting there wondering, "what is Down syndrome," right? Well, Down syndrome is when a person has 47 chromosomes on each cell instead of the usual 46. So what does this mean? It means Kelsey may look a little different and has a lot more trouble learning things and even has some physical problems like her hearing impairment that causes her to wear hearing aids. But Kelsey is more LIKE all of us than she is different. She doesn't like it when people stare at her and once when a friend had a birthday party and she wasn't invited she sat across the street from the little girl's house and cried and cried and cried. She has the same feelings as everyone else. 

Did you know that in the 60's people thought that people with Down syndrome could not learn? This is simply not true. In fact, people with Down syndrome have graduated from high school and college. Some people today still think that people with Down syndrome cannot learn. I can prove that this is not true. 

Kelsey is 8 years old and has learned a lot. She can walk, she can talk, she can read, write, she can ride a bike, she can swim. She also loves to play baseball and soccer with me and lots more things...just like all the other kids in her first grade class. 

Some people think that children with Down syndrome are stubborn. This is not true either. Many times even Kelsey may appear stubborn because she does not want to try something a new way. She wants to stick with doing things her old, safe, familiar way. 

OUR job is to make sure she feels welcome and part of our community. We need to value all people for whatever their gifts and not try to make people be the same or act the same. 

As far as academics go, Kelsey knows lots of colors. She knows her letters and can count to 20 in English and 10 in Japanese and she is even learning to count in Spanish. Kelsey can write her first name and is working on her last name. 

While Kelsey has brought many challenges to our family, she has also brought many good things, such as making my brother, Christopher, my mom and me thankful for all kinds of people and more aware of others feelings. Because of Kelsey, we have met many interesting people that we would not have met otherwise. I love my sister, Kelsey, and I would not trade her for any other sister in the world, well, most days anyway!