Recently I have expressed wanting my daughter Scarlett, 3 with Down Syndrome to switch to 5 day PreK in the fall. Currently she is in a twice a week full day program offered by the public school system. I think she would benefit immensely from the full 5 days. But, I found out that the 5 day program is a developmentally delayed room. Since Scarlett was born I wanted her to be integrated with typical children, so this punched me in the gut. Though I was told the developmentally delayed room is of those who are high functioning and verbal it still hit me like a bus. I trust the school, and I am not there to see her level of functioning compared to the other students which is why we have a team of people to suggest what is best for her. I just never look at Scarlett as being delayed or different, but the reality of it is that she is. She is different and DOES need that extra help and it is only to help her in the long run. I think it is just hard for any parent when you see your child as being different. I mean to me she is perfect and shits ice cream and is a genius. But I cannot let my pride of being a mother and thinking she is perfect hurt her in the long run. The goal is for her to be in regular ED Kindergarden so this extra help will help her get there. While laying in bed last night all of this was rushing through my head and it hit me again. The mama bear protective emotional feeling that I got when she was first born and I first got her diagnosis. The reality of Scarlett's life is that she is delayed, though she is extremely high functioning she is delayed and it makes me sad for her sometimes. I know she doesn't know she is and hopefully by continuing to raise her no different than any other child and giving her all of that extra help she needs she will never feel as if she is different. I do not want her to ever feel as if she is different in a bad way, I want her to know she's different in the best ways possible. I want her to know that she is lucky to be who she is and that anyone will be lucky to know her, because that is the truth in all of it. She is lucky to be different and we are lucky to be her parents. This is a big decision to be made and we have an upcoming IEP meeting to discuss everything and I know everyone together will make the best decision and I just need to trust the process.