Chesterfield kids use personal stories to help classmates embrace differences

Mar. 21—CHESTERFIELD — At a school assembly held on World Down Syndrome Day and focused on embracing differences, two students shared their experiences of having siblings with autism and Down syndrome.

Tanner Richmond, 9, spoke about his two younger brothers, Tucker, 7, and Trent, 4, who both experience autism.

"Some people who don't understand autism feel scared or even make fun of people who have it. But I'm here to tell you there's nothing to be scared of and nothing to tease about," the 3rd-grader said. "Autism is a part of an individual. It's not their entire identity."

And Kendall Young, 10, spoke about her sister, Jayci, 13, who has Down syndrome.

"Down syndrome is a genetic condition that a baby is born with," she explained. "... Since today's assembly is about celebrating differences, my family thought it would be helpful to help you understand."

The assembly on Thursday, one of three on various themes usually held per year, featured musical performances by different classes, a video explaining autism and two speeches. Principal Sharyn D'Eon told The Sentinel that the school is divided into three groups: kindergarten through second grade, third through fifth, and sixth through eighth grades, and each group organizes an assembly and chooses a theme.

"This group had voted to embrace differences, and so that was their theme, and it just so happens that two of those kids had siblings ... who have differences, and they wanted to share their story," she said, adding that both students suggested the idea. "Kendall's very, very proud of her sister. They have a very special bond, as does Tanner with his two [brothers]."

Tanner told the Sentinel after the speech that his grandmother had proposed the idea to him.

"I was writing a story about my brothers, and then my grandma said, 'How [about] you write a speech about autism?' I'm like, 'That's a great idea,' " he said.

He also created bins for each classroom, so students could drop questions about autism in the bin, and he could answer them.

"Hopefully they'll start asking questions. I'm going to come down once a week with these bins that I have and everyone's class name on it, and then they'll drop a note, and I'll come down once a week to see what their questions are," he said.

And although he admitted he was nervous before the talk, he said after that he felt "amazing and really happy."

"I just think [my brothers are] really amazing, and I want to support them as much as I can," he added.

His family attended the assembly as well. Taylor Richmond, his mom, said that being in a public school led to recent conversations about autism.

"He always knew his brothers were different, but I think it was more pronounced now seeing other kids and other peers who were developmentally different than his brothers," she said. "And he was coming home with a lot of questions of, like, his peers not understanding. So we thought it was an excellent way for him to kind of take his power back and be like, 'Let me teach you guys.' "

His family helped him write the speech and said he rehearsed it every night for the past week, and Taylor said she was excited about the conversations the speech might spark.

"I think it's awesome," she said. "... [And] Tanner has made that nice connection with the little girl, Kendall, in fourth grade, whose sister has Down syndrome, and they ride the bus together. So it's nice to see those connections."

Kim Young, Kendall's mother, said Kendall worked with her teacher to write her speech.

"She was asked by her teachers if she felt comfortable speaking at the assembly because today is actually World Down Syndrome Day," Young said. "She wrote it at school with the help of her teacher, and Jayci had actually done a project on Down syndrome a few weeks ago, so she got some information from Jayci."

Young added that Jayci had been at Chesterfield School since she was 4, and said it's done a "wonderful job" at providing the services she needs.

"It was ... really nice to see the kids listening so intently and learning about Down syndrome and autism, since there are quite a few students at the school," she added.

And D'Eon said both Kendall and Tanner want their peers to understand their siblings, as both are protective of them.

"They just want kids to understand they're just like the rest of us," she added. "... Tanner is always watching for his brothers at recess and ... Kendall's the same way. They've got kind of that eye out to make sure everything's going OK for their siblings. It's pretty special to watch it."

Christopher Cartwright can be reached at ccartwright@keenesentinel.com or 603-352-1234, extension 1405.

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