Joel Poole
Name: Joel Poole
Age: 7
Hobbies: swimming, playing with the dogs, wearing costumes.
What is the most important thing you do everyday? Eat french fries.
#TheLuckyFew #TheLuckyFewFoundation #DownSyndrome #ThisIsDownSyndrome
(THE POOLE FAMILY SERIES, JOEL: Richard & Mary, Parents)
Joel came to us when we thought our adoption journey was over, we got news of the impending birth of our first grandchild and with very little warning. Joel comes to us from Nigeria via Maryland when his birth parents chose us from profiles provided to them from the National Down Syndrome Adoption Association. The phone call came so out of the blue that we were very much caught off-guard. Joel was just 3 months old when we headed off to Maryland to take custody. He was a beautiful little boy with serious heart issues.
Joel has Mosaic Down syndrome and required a test to diagnose his DS which was not apparent at birth. His heart was repaired at the age of 2 when he stopped gaining weight and would have to nap numerous times a day. Nothing in our parenting history prepared us for this surgery and all parents who must go through it have our empathy. He came through it all with flying colors and was back to gaining weight and running around the house – running faster than us! He is now a healthy 7-year-old french fry loving boy who just knocks the heck out of each and every day!
He plays baseball and is quite the fish in the pool, waking up and asking to go swim before we can even wipe the sleep out of our eyes. His dogs are extremely important to him – we have 2 and they are quite large but that does not phase Joel. You will never see him without his Toy Story figures – Sheriff Woody and Bullseye are his favorites. We are on the 5th incarnation of Woody and the 3rd Bullseye.
Joel also loves to dress up in costumes. He simply outgrew Dash from the Incredibles, so now he is wearing out his Spiderman costume. We have gotten him a special box to keep everything in because he just added Buzz Lightyear and the Black Panther to his costume cache. He is very good at getting himself dressed, in fact, he insists on it. He is independent in all his activities of daily living and improving significantly in both speech and academics. Having a son just 11 months older than our grandchild is strange but I would not trade this experience or Joel for anything! He is a joy!!
