After achieving remarkable success as the winner of the inaugural Page Turner Awards 2020, Elizabeth Goodhue had her debut non-fiction title, The Truth About Down Syndrome, published. Elizabeth went from being a caring mum, who travelled as she blogged about life and travelling with a Down Syndrome son, to having her book published when her submission was recognized in the first year of our writing contest.
The Truth About Down Syndrome: Lessons Learned from Raising a Son with Trisomy-21
In this book, Elizabeth Goodhue traces her journey beyond the maze of social, governmental, medical, and school bureaucracies that accompany people with disabilities. Her mission has always been to bust the stereotypes people create, not just around Trisomy-21 (Down syndrome) but around anyone with a difference.
As you meet William in these pages, you see he is just like everyone else except that he has an extra chromosome. And Elizabeth, though facing unique challenges, is like every other mother devoted to raising a healthy child and seeing him into adulthood. Told in vignettes and bits of poetry, Elizabeth Goodhue's memoir of raising a son with Trisomy-21 is an engaging, deeply human read. Each vignette is short–so you think, "Oh, I'll read 10, then put it down." But—you read 10, then "just one more"—before you know it, you've read one-third of the book in one sitting.
Though an obvious audience is parents or prospective parents of children with Trisomy-21, the audience is much broader: parents wanting to learn about advocating for their children, parents interested in a mother's parenting journey, people interested in meeting the needs and recognizing the humanity of people with disabilities, people interested in others' growth, and development in relationships.
Most importantly, educators should read this book: teachers, school staff, principals, district administrators, school superintendents—all these people, especially those tasked with determining the "individual education plans" for students with disabilities — must read this book and learn how to listen, see strengths, and genuinely support students with differences.
From Mum To Published Author
In 2014, Elizabeth left her teaching career of 24 years and moved to Mexico. One year later, she moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to write for an e-learning company. During this time, she wrote two blogs about her travels: www.tampicoandlisa.travellerspoint.com and www.expatriateinkualalumpur.com.
While living in Kuala Lumpur, she challenged herself to find a café using public transportation or walking. It was in these cafés that her blog thetruthaboutdownsyndrome.com began. When she returned to the states in 2018, she used her blog to write her story, The Truth About Down Syndrome: Lessons Learned from Raising a Son with Trisomy-21.
Inspired by her success, aspiring writers can now take the plunge and submit your writing project to the Page Turner Awards, confident that your voice can be heard and that your literary dream can come true.
Embrace your passion for storytelling and let your own literary journey unfold today!
