By Erika, Miki’s mum
Miki (Micaela) is a happy young girl with Down Syndrome (and global developmental delay), who is full of life and loves music, as well as all forms of physical activity: swimming, dancing, outdoor pursuits, trampolining, horse-riding and so forth.
She is very sociable and expressive, but is currently still non-verbal (now 11 years old). She is very loving and affectionate, adores our family and is very close to her older sister Julia (13) with whom she has a very strong bond.
For the past four years Miki has been in specialist education.
Just under three years ago Miki developed sepsis following a biting incident (on her index finger, resulting in complete loss of her nail) at school and nearly died!
Our GP put us in an ambulance and we spent the longest four days of my life in Salisbury Hospital, where she had everything from drips to vaccines to blood tests, to an operation under general.
During this difficult time, in which I ended up being mentally ill myself, I wrote the song ‘Different’. I started writing it as a ‘cry for help’ for all children who are ‘different’, and it developed into what I thought Miki might say if she had a voice (given she is still non-verbal), and which I think all families of children with learning difficulties or other ‘differences’ can relate to.
I’m so grateful to everyone who has helped me turn my song into this beautiful piece of music, video and website. We really believe we can make a difference with this venture, because many ‘differently able’ children are already seeing this as their song, finding they can relate to it. I also wanted to give back to some of the charities who have supported us along the way.
You can here Erika’s song, watch the video and read more about the wonderful team behind Miki’s story and the charities that Erika is supporting on her website: www.shadesofdifferent.com