Mom’s letter gets boy with Down Syndrome special invitation to party he was excluded from

It’s painful to watch your children be excluded. It’s even more painful when you know it’s happening due to a disorder your child can’t control.

That’s what Jennifer Kiss-Engele was dealing with when she found out her son, Sawyer, was the only one out of 22 kids in his class to not be invited to a birthday party. Sawyer has Down Syndrome, and the Canadian mother said she knew this was why her child was excluded.

But rather than lash out in anger, Kiss-Engele wrote an open letter to the other child’s mother on Facebook, explaining that children with Down Syndrome are not different and how hard it is for any child to be left out.

“I am not mad at you. Rather, I think this is an opportunity for you to get to know my son better. You see, having Down Syndrome doesn’t mean that you don’t want to have friends. It doesn’t mean that you don’t have feelings. It doesn’t mean you don’t like to go to birthday parties,” Kiss-Engele wrote. “People with Down Syndrome want the same things that you and I want. They want to have close relationships, they want to feel love, they want to contribute, they want to have meaningful lives, and they want to go to birthday parties.”

The other mother read Kiss-Engele’s letter, according to an update on the post, and had a conversation with her son.

“I want you to know that there is a happy ending to this story. The parent read my letter, spoke to their child about Sawyer, and the child created a special birthday invite for Sawyer,” Kiss-Engele said. “Of course he's been beaming ever since and can’t stop talking about it.”

The mother said she hopes her post will serve as a reminder to other parents when children try to exclude others.

“I know it can be difficult to teach our children about something we may not understand ourselves. I struggle with this as well. But this is a great opportunity and life lesson to have with your child,” Kiss-Engele said. “They will remember the time that their parent said to them, it’s not OK to leave someone out because of their disability, race, or gender.”

You can read the full post below.

This story was originally published June 28, 2016 at 9:34 AM with the headline "Mom’s letter gets boy with Down Syndrome special invitation to party he was excluded from."