Forrest

James Island

Forrest Carr walks into a local Mexican restaurant to have dinner with his family. He loves to eat out.

Almost immediately, the outgoing and popular Fort Johnson middle-schooler is swarmed by a group of 15 giggling 13-year-old girls offering big smiles and even bigger hugs.

He graciously smiles, but the look on his slightly blushed face says, “OK, get me outta here!”

Though Forrest says only a few words, he has changed others’ lives in profound ways – like the camp counselor who after getting to know him decided to change her career goals and work with children with disabilities. Or his close friends and schoolmates who now have a new perception of what “normal” is – all because of their relationship with him.

Forrest’s mom Peggy Carr admits that times haven’t always been easy; when she first got the news her son would be born with Down syndrome, she was frightened.

But if she had the chance to do it over again, she wouldn’t change a thing.

Peggy has watched Forrest grow into a very popular teenage boy who rarely meets a stranger. He loves horses, his pet cat “Sugar” and baseball, and he wants to be a carpenter when he grows up.

“I wouldn’t be the person I am today if it weren’t for Forrest. I see things in a way I wouldn’t normally see them. It’s hard
 to describe.”

Forrest’s older sister Sydney feels the same now that she’s a little older, and says Forrest has taught her a lot about herself.

“I didn’t like Forrest that much when we were growing up. 
I felt he got away with everything. I became bitter.”

Sydney’s video about Down syndrome recently won first place in the Southern Interscholastic Press Association’s 
Carry-In Contest in the broadcasting category for best
Human Interest/Feature story.

She says now she believes her brother is a blessing in disguise.

“He’s never hated me. He’s never held grudges. He’s a best friend for life and will always be there for me.”

Sloan

Summerville

Gina Ceely of Summerville smiles sweetly when she talks about her son Sloan.

She watches her 2-year-old squeal with laughter after his daddy shoots a foam ball from a toy popper gun. She rattles off medical terminology like a seasoned health-care professional. Words like spica cast, hydrocephalus and neurogenic easily roll off her tongue.

“Now enough with all that!” she says. “As you can see he is a resilient, happy ball of energy and – though it doesn’t sound like it – is a generally healthy child.”

Gina and her husband George had never heard of spina bifida, so when the ultrasound results showed their baby had the birth defect she immediately combed the Internet to educate herself.

“Most of the information available and the doctors are pretty negative, but now that I have a personal experience with it, it isn’t so bad. I mean, it’s a big deal but it’s not as frightening as they made it out to be.”

Sloan has had multiple surgeries in his young life, but when meeting him, you’d never know it. The toddler is more active than most boys his age. He loves to go to the park and loves to go swimming even more. He has physical therapy twice a week, occupational therapy once a week and occasionally participates in aquatics therapy .

Gina says her family revels in his successes. What might seem minor to other families are huge in hers.

“The milestones and stuff are so much more special [to us], like his walking is so much more special because it was so much work for him. So much more went into getting him to that point, so every little thing means that much more to us. Even him being alive and talking and doing so well.”

Elizabeth

Mount Pleasant

Elizabeth Carpenter matter-of-factly rolls her bike into the driveway at her Mount Pleasant home and is ready to pose for a photo. She’s been bouncing on the trampoline in the backyard and has done a few slides down the zip line to pass some time after school.

The athletic 10-year-old recently mastered swinging herself hand-over-hand across the monkey bars. It took her weeks to figure it out, but her intense grit and determination kept her from giving up.

Elizabeth also consistently works on perfecting her swimming techniques. When she was 3, she taught herself how to do the dolphin swim and dog paddle in the waves off Sullivan’s Island, and recently won a few gold medals at the state Special Olympics Summer Games. She also swims in a regular summer league at Creekside Tennis and Swim Club in Mount Pleasant.

“Many children with Down syndrome have low tone, so their gross motor skills aren’t quite as developed,” her mom says. “Elizabeth doesn’t have that issue.”

Gene and Kevin Carpenter found out at birth their daughter Elizabeth had Down syndrome and then she underwent open-heart surgery at 
11 months old.

“You’re just trying to get through it … just got to hang on and move through it, but it will be OK,” Gene says.

In Elizabeth’s early years, she hit most of her milestones – drinking from a cup, walking, etc. It wasn’t until later that she needed to step up her therapies.

Experience and a course called Partners in Policymaking, a program offered through the Lieutenant Governor’s Office on Aging that familiarizes people with the policymaking and legislative process at the local, state and federal level, have taught Gene to advocate for her daughter. She now often has friends call her for advice regarding anything from navigating the school system to services available here in Charleston.

Edwin, 8, is Elizabeth’s very supportive younger brother. Gene and Kevin make sure to carve out time just for Edwin and even enrolled the kids at different schools.

“Siblings have their own unique issues because there’s so much time and energy focused on this child with disabilities that you have to really be cognizant of your time with your typical child,” Gene says.

“It’s so easy to get caught up in everything that you’ve got to do, and you’ve got to be here and your children have to be doing that and this, but it’s really helped me slow down. And it’s helped me slow down with my son, too. One of the most important things is the four of us together.”

Brianna

Mount Pleasant

Brianna Leask is content sitting in the cool shade under an umbrella at her busy community pool. The 14-year-old had become bored, so she borrowed a book from a friend. Within 15 minutes she was 120 pages in, comprehending every word.

Her parents Noah and Lisa proudly point out she’s a speed-reader, and she’s successful at anything she wants to do.

Surprisingly, reading isn’t her favorite subject in school – it’s actually science, and she says she wants to be a veterinarian (or a model) when she grows up.

Brianna was diagnosed with autism when she was 2. Doctors told her parents to love her and be prepared to institutionalize her when she got older.

But they weren’t going to settle and set out on a mission to save their daughter. They found and teamed up with anyone and everyone who could help and had her best interests in mind, and took advantage of every available program they could find.

“We realized it was up to us,” her dad says, “Everyone has to be on the same page. It’s a team effort. It still is.”

They started her on aggressive therapies, vitamin and mineral supplements and under the care of a DAN doctor (Defeat Autism Now) began Chelation, a process that removes excess mineral deposits and toxic heavy metals from the body.

Her father, who was in the Navy and was deployed during the procedure, says it worked and she was “a different child” when he returned.

Throughout everything though, the person who’s worked the hardest to be successful is Brianna.

She’s the treasurer on the student counsel at her middle school and has won multiple awards, including landing a few gold medals in swimming through the Special Olympics. She’s been accepted into the Bishop England Options Program, and will start her first year of high school in August. She’ll also be on the Bishop England swim team.

“We fully expect her to college. Hmm, maybe College of Charleston,” Noah says smiling gently poking his smiling daughter on the shoulder as she finishes up the book she started just half an hour ago.