As a member of the Diocesan Commission for Pastoral Services to the Disabled for nearly two decades, Irene Mak Ka-yee holds the spiritual needs of people with Down Syndrome to be more important than their material needs. Faith and community support play a major role in the development of Isaac, her 26-year-old son who is affected by the condition.
Since 2008, Isaac has dedicatedly served as an altar server at the Star of the Sea Parish; his younger brother joined him later. He said God is very kind to him. As an altar boy, he said he is glad to be close to God so he thanked the Lord for letting him be one.
Recently, he was involved in a short movie produced by the Diocesan Commission for Marriage and the Family as well as other pro-life groups, and he recalled that he completed his role in one take.
Mak, on the other hand, teaches a catechism class for mentally disadvantaged people called “Happy Together” run by the Diocesan Pastoral Centre for the Disabled on Hong Kong Island.
“There is a misconception that special children don’t need to know God, so we don’t need to take them to the church or ask them to receive sacraments. But I don’t think that’s true,” she said. She said to evangelise to a child with special needs, there is no need to explain complicated doctrines or other principles, buy only convey to them that God loves them and that is very easy to understand.
Since 2008, Isaac has dedicatedly served as an altar server at the Star of the Sea Parish; his younger brother joined him later. He said God is very kind to him. As an altar boy, he said he is glad to be close to God so he thanked the Lord for letting him be one
Furthermore, Mak believes such children needs God far more than ordinary people. “If a special child relies on his mother too much, his world will collapse one day if his mother dies before him, which is quite natural though.” she said.
“But if he knows that God loves him and if we make him aware of that, that there’s a strong support of faith. And the Church is always his family,” she said, adding, “He also needs to know where will his mother go.”
Today, the average lifespan of a person with Down syndrome is approximately 60 years today, a huge increase compared to the 1980s when the average was about 25 years. This is attributed to medical research and improvements over the years.
Often she tells parents of single children that they need not worry too much about their special child’s financial or material needs in the future. According to her, their basic physical needs can be met by the government and the non-governmental organisations, such as the Caritas and the Fu Hong Society. “The most important thing is whether God is in their hearts and in their lives,” she said.
Mak recalls that when the prenatal blood test result showed that her first child had a high risk of Down Syndrome, she said she would not give up the baby under any circumstances. As she remembered, the doctor informed her sternly of the result without providing any comfort, and advised her to think twice before making a decision because it would be hard for her to take care of the child.
Mak believes mentally-disadvantaged child in fact has a big advantage: being single-minded to believe in and serve God. It is evident to her that Isaac enjoys attending Sunday Mass and participating in the activities of the Church communities
At the time, she was teaching ethics in a Catholic school and was fully aware of how valuable human life is. The answer she gave to the suggestion of amniocentesis, a further medical test, was an absolute no.
When she looks back, she believes the greatest difficulty occurred when he was young. He required a lot of training, and there was uncertainty due to the concern that there may be other disabilities that have yet to be revealed. This caused her a lot of anxiety. Many of his body functions were examined, including his eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and many others. Fortunately, he grew up without any major issues other than sleep apnea.
Her happiness increased as Isaac’s situation stabilised and she realised that his learning ability probably wasn’t that bad after all. He is loved and accepted by many people who grew up with him in the Church. “There have been a lot of blessings there. I started to relax a little bit,” she said.
She recalled that he also had a happy primary school life in a Catholic school which took good care of students with special needs.
A few months ago, he completed a contract with Hong Kong Down Syndrome Association handling document courier services. A while ago, he was involved in the detailing of automobiles.
She said sometimes her friends will say he seems only mildly disadvantaged. “Whether a special child is a mild or moderate case, they should be looked after when they are not completely independent. There are different concerns for mild and moderate cases. But the most important thing is that they have happy lives,” She said.
Mak believes mentally-disadvantaged child in fact has a big advantage: being single-minded to believe in and serve God. It is evident to her that Isaac enjoys attending Sunday Mass and participating in the activities of the Church communities. He will not miss an opportunity to serve the Church. “Highly intelligent individuals often argue and ask questions, but for special children, what they believe is what they believe,” she remarked.
Due to her role as his companion, she became an active member of various communities for the disadvantaged, such as Faith and Light. Together with Isaac and her community members, she had many happy memories.
“Having survived the big trials, there is now a sweet flavour for everything,” she said, attributing the sweetness to her own and Isaac’s faith.
