Family says Down diagnosis needn't be seen as a burden

It was more than three years ago, but Vera Piasecki is still upset with the doctor who told her that the baby she was carrying almost certainly had Down syndrome.

The doctor went on to describe the genetic condition in such catastrophic terms she felt as if there was "an alien being inside me," she said. "It was just awful," said Piasecki, 43, of Middletown. "It was a very, very scary thing, the way it was presented."
Her outlook improved, however, after talking with one of her sisters, who had experience working with children with Down in the New Orleans school system.

The Piaseckis say Hannah is a blessing and not at all like the burdensome, afflicted children their first perinatologist had described. "Looking back, I think, "How awful,' " Piasecki said, recalling that initial conversation. "I really feel bad for other people that there's this misconception out there."

http://www.app.com/article/20090322/NEWS/903220361