Southwest Human Development

Meet Our Ambassadors, The Huff Family

Kevin & Shawnie Huff with their children, Tia (6), Max (1) and Tyler (4)

Shawnie writes: 

“Kevin and I were married in August of 1997.  In December 1998 our first son, Braxton was born.  He was diagnosed at birth with Down syndrome.  As we looked into his eyes for the first time, just minutes after birth, we fell deeply in love with him and there was no turning back. 

Braxton was born with no esophagus and some intestinal webbing.  He spent 10 weeks in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit before finally coming home.  He received 15 surgeries before he was a year old.  Looking at him, you would never know all he had to endure.  He was such a happy and smiley boy.  Sadly, he passed away at 13 months old.  We miss him so very much but know that he is in the best care now and will forever be a part of our family. 

In Dec. 2001, we had our second child, our sweet little Tia, who is now 6.  While pregnant with Tia we were told she had an AVSD heart condition.  Knowing that this is often associated with Down syndrome we were curious and excited to see if she too would have DS.  At birth we found out, she did!!!  Tia had open-heart surgery at 4 months old and we teased that they replaced her heart with the Energizer Bunny!  She is a ball of love and energy.  She is constantly talking, singing and making new friends.

Well, 2 years later, we decided to have another baby.  Tyler was born in February of 2004.  Our pregnancy was normal and the doctors told us there was no way we would have a third child with DS. We anticipated a typical child and seconds after delivery my husband declared that Tyler too had Down syndrome!  The doctors and nurses were shocked.  We were laughing and felt that God’s will for our family could not be more obvious.  Tyler is now four and is a sweet and very funny boy.  He attends preschool and loves puzzles, movies and coloring.

One day I got an overwhelming feeling in my heart as I looked at children on an adoption website.   I knew it was impossible to deny that it was time for us to add to our family.  After convincing Kevin that we needed to do this (which didn’t take long) - we started looking.  In May of this year we traveled to Serbia to add our son, Max, to our family.  He too has Down syndrome and has been a wonderful additional to our lives already.  We are so grateful for the love and support we receive from family, friends, and our community.”

Easter Seals Southwest Human Development

From birth through age three, Tia and Tyler received Early Intervention - speech therapy and occupational therapy from Easter Seals Southwest Human Development. 

What was most helpful…

“The therapists were fantastic!  The helped keep me informed of community activities, current research specific to our needs, and helped our children be as age-appropriate as possible.  They were very open and encouraging.  They were both great at disguising “work” as play so the kids always had a fun time.”

The one thing people should know…

“Getting help early on for our children has been vital in reaching developmental milestones.  Going to preschool has been a much easier transition.  Having multiple successes before the age of three gives children confidence going into a school environment.  It was great for me to be involved in their learning and to know what milestones they were working towards.  I can’t imagine not having that help the first 3 years of their lives.”