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| | News > L'Arche in Canada | | Quebec Speaks Out | | | Associations des Arches du Québec | | The eight L’Arche communities of Quebec responded together to an official report to the Minister of Health and Social Services, proposing early screening for Down Syndrome. (See previous article) |
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Peter Lincoln
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The L’Arche Quebec statement, which was widely distributed among the large number of non-profit organizations in Quebec, contextualizes the discussion with a tribute to Peter Lincoln, member of L’Arche Montreal who passed away recently.
Peter knew only a few words. The one he used most frequently was ‘happy.’ Peter was a man of peace and joy and though he suffered much from ill health, he carried these qualities with him wherever he ventured. This man, who was not at all productive by society’s standards, was an inspiration to many. To his family he brought unity, his father commented, for in his presence no conflict could last.
The L’Arche statement acknowledges that not all children and adults with Down
syndrome have Peter’s gifts, and it acknowledges the shock parents experience with the news that they will have a baby with a disability, but it also testifies to the experience of L’Arche that people who come to our communities closed and angry often become transformed over a period of years in a community where their inner beauty is recognized and called forth.
The L’Arche text argues that systematic screening for Down syndrome is discriminatory: “It will systematically put the children to be born with Down syndrome at a disadvantage. Underlying this measure, as we see it, is a powerful stigma banishing Down syndrome and intellectual disability.
Our experience shows us how much we gain in human and cultural richness when we mix with people with an intellectual disability. They humanize us through their hearts. They help us go beyond the instinctive fear of difference and to be open to every person. Knowing this, L’Arche communities give opportunities for many young people to come to know people who have disabilities, to have fun together and for the barriers to fall away.” |
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