Prom King Goes To College
from cnn.com
Elizabeth Landau
Zach Wincet's mother, Marget, didn't know her son would have Down Syndrome until after he was born. "Sometimes you're scared as a parent, and you wonder if your child is going to be able to do this and this and this," Wincent said recently. "And you know what? You just go out and try it, and you live each day at a
time, and you celebrate all the great things that happen." But the genetic disorder, which causes
intellectual disabilities and other difficulties, has not prevented "Zach Attack" from enrolling in community college, climbing the Great Wall of China, coaching hockey games or becoming Prom king in high school.
Growing up, some children were kind to him, but other kids in the neighborhood made fun of her son,
Wincent said. She believes that this came from lack of understanding of disabilities. She would tell these children that her son is a person just as they are and would follow up with phone calls to their parents.
Zach's adopted sister Zoe, now 14, stands up for him too, Wincent said.
"That's a really important role that families play in society: helping everybody else understand that everyone has feelings; everyone has a right to belong; everyone has to be accepted. You don't have to be his friend, but he sure deserves respect just like everyone else," Wincent said.
She credits the teachers who were "out-of-the-box thinkers" for helping her son in school. Sometimes he needed a simple intervention to make school easier for him: For instance, in a middle-school science class, he just needed someone to retype the worksheets in a larger font because he reads slowly and has visual problems, she said.
In high school, Zach became good friends with kids on the ice hockey team and became an assistant coach his junior year. He will again coach the alumni game in December, when college-age graduates return to the school to play against the varsity team. "I have to get them in shape," he said. "I have a huge, huge hockey family."
These days, Zach attends a special-needs program at Elgin Community College and lives at home. His mother said she hopes that after the two-year program, he will be able to attend another school and live on a college campus. He also works at Target, supporting the cashiers. Although some students with special needs get placed in quiet office jobs, Zach loves people and activity, and Marget thought he would enjoy the job.
One of Zach's dreams is to become a dancer in Disney's "High School Musical" franchise. He performed in a local production, and now he's planning to submit a video for a Disney-sponsored fan contest. "It's not about winning or losing. Just have fun," he said.
