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Chapter 5 69 5.1.1 J ASON K INGSLEY Jason Kingsley was born in 1974 in the United States and diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome. His parents Emily and Charles were told that Jason should be institutionalized immediately, because there was no chance that he would ever learn to ‘speak, think, walk, or talk’. 7 Emily recalls that they said he’d never be able to distinguish us from other adults. He would never be creative; he would never have an imagination. I was collecting a first edition of Lewis Carroll and putting aside all this Gilbert and Sullivan stuff that I love; I had boxes of things that I was going to do with this kid, all of it sophisticated and terrific. 8 Charles and Emily were devastated. But they heard of an early intervention program that could maybe teach Jason some basic skills and decided to give it a try, in their own home. They were told to stimulate Jason in every way they could, especially his senses. Charles and Emily ripped apart the elegant, pastel baby’s room they had created, painting it blinding red with stenciled green and purple flowers. Emily persuaded the local supermarket to give her the giant lacy snowflakes they had used as Christmas decorations, and those went up, too. They hung things from the ceiling on springs, so they were always moving and bobbing. (..) They put in a radio and a record player so there was music all the time. They talked to Jason day and night. 9 And it seemed to work. Jason was able to read when he was four (sooner than most of his peers), and when he was seven, he could count to ten in twelve languages. 10 Jason became famous because he had a regular appearance on Sesame Street, arranged by his mother. ‘Emily felt that she had licked DS; she lived in triumph’. 11 Jason’s parents began to coach other parents with newborns with DS, telling them that they would have to work harder than other parents, but shouldn’t let anybody tell them that ‘it’ is impossible. 12 7 Solomon 2012, p. 169. 8 Ibid., p. 170. 9 Idem. 10 Ibid., p. 171. 11 Idem. 12 Idem.