农业+生活方式

两倍好

发布于2021年9月8日上午12:00

Cohen Echols and Cohen Talton have more than a first name in common. The two youngsters both have Down Syndrome and have fallen in love with agriculture. From spending time with their families and working in the family business, to raising animals and even speaking a little Spanish, Ag是这些年轻人学习和成长的一种方式. 当时科恩·埃克尔斯只有几个月大, 一位心理医生告诉他的父母, 德鲁和谢莉·埃克尔斯, that their family farm was the best place for Cohen to grow up. 

“For me, when Cohen was first born, I felt sorry for myself and Shelly for a few weeks,” Drew said. “As farmers, most of us want our kids to work with us and eventually take over. Odds are that Cohen will always work with me on the farm, and I think that’s a really cool thing. 我们和朋友开玩笑说他们是空巢老人, 但他会一直在我们身边, 我们对此感到非常高兴.”

比如他的姐姐克洛伊·埃克尔斯, 科恩经常参与家族生意, Jaemor农场, 盖恩斯维尔附近的一家蔬果店. Their 600-acre farm grows peaches, strawberries, pumpkins and other veggies. More than 40 people work on the farm and Cohen is instrumental in that. 

“He loves hanging with the workers and speaking a little Spanish to them, 去我们的农场市场储备农产品. 在圣诞节, 他帮助制作礼品篮和, 在秋天, 在玉米迷宫的售票处帮忙. 他擦桌子, 倒垃圾, and what’s so cool is that even with those tasks that most people consider menial, 他不需要被告知去做这件事. He loves sweeping and cleaning, and takes pride in that,” Drew said.

Even though it may take 13-year-old Cohen a little longer to learn new tasks, Drew and Shelly have never shied away from teaching him responsibility.

“A lot people told us early on that Cohen can do anything he wants to do, 尽管他可能需要更长的时间才能到达那里. 我们已经看到了这种情况. Anything he wants to learn, he does, but he has to work harder at it,” Shelly said. “我们一直对他抱有很高的期望, 比如学习如何表现, 如何不引起轰动, 如何坐到教堂结束, or sit through a dinner and eat his food and not need a lot of help from other people. 他能在社会上发挥作用. All of the learning he’s done on the farm has just enriched that.”

学习ing from agriculture, however, isn’t just limited to farming. 科恩·塔尔顿的爱好是展示动物. 真正的家庭活动, 他的父母, 克莱和布列塔尼·塔尔顿, 两人都是在展示动物的环境中长大的, 他们把这份爱分享给了他们的孩子, 萝拉, 科恩和诺拉.

“布列塔尼和我都很熟悉展示, 对我们来说，和孩子们分享这些是很自然的事,克莱说. “We knew the work that would have to go into it with Cohen. We approach the daily routine a little differently with him, but it works for us as a family. We practice as a family, travel as a family and show as a family. 这是我们的事.”

住在门罗县, each of the kids started showing livestock at a young age to learn responsibility. Laughing about their expectations from Cohen’s early years showing, 布列塔尼说, 现在10, “把他们吹出了水面?.”

“We’ve changed the definition of ‘success’ for Cohen with each passing year. 当他刚开始的时候, our goals were that he attempted to stand in line and to hold on to his goat,布列塔尼说. “他成长得如此之快令人惊讶. We can see a visible increase in his confidence and a pride in what he’s doing.”

Showing livestock gives Cohen a means to compete in something where he’s put on the same level as typical peers.

“对他来说，和他的同龄人在一起, 和其他三四年级的同学一起, 在某些情况下，更大的孩子, 在这方面，这对他来说是一个很好的地方,克莱说.

More than confidence, showing has taught Cohen responsibility.

“This is a living animal and it can’t wait for it to be convenient for you to feed it or care for it. Caring for a living thing drives it home that this is a learning project, but it’s also real life. This is what farmers deal with every day but to put food on our tables,布列塔尼说.

饲养动物, 比如种植庄稼, 是艰苦的工作, 我们可以从两者身上学到很多人生经验.

“I was a public-school teacher before I had Cohen,” Shelly said. “如果孩子们不是在农场长大的, they may have no concept that peaches from a jar actually grow on a tree. My kids understand where food comes from and the work it takes. 职业道德课程, learning to never give up and the closeness of family relationships are some of the best things that farm families have, and I’m thankful my kids get to grow up in that atmosphere.”

Clay said kids are being raised differently these days.

“There are so many things that turn kids’ attention away from agriculture. The more we can show them, we can give them the opportunity to experience ag,” he said. “Whether it’s showing animals or having a garden, there’s an opportunity out there for them.”

“孩子是下一代. They’re the next voters, the next leaders,布列塔尼说. “他们已经是大消费者了. 对他们来说，一切都在眼睛的高度. It’s important to teach them how those things are grown.”

It’s also important for children to learn that just because some kids are different, 这并不意味着他们没有能力. The Taltons believe that sharing Cohen’s story with the world can help normalize the way people view children with Down Syndrome.

“Last year was Cohen’s most successful year showing and competing against peers his own age,布列塔尼说. “当COVID-19发生时, 许多周边州取消了演出, and we jumped on any opportunity to show anywhere we could. We met a lot of different people last year and exposed a lot of new people to the fact that Cohen can do this. Kids with special needs can do this, with the proper support. 科恩在脸谱网和Instagram上都有账号. 我们不是要详细描述他的一生, but if we can share his day-to-day that shows how typical he is, we think people will realize he’s more alike than different. We always exemplify that he’s just like everyone else. 他有局限性，但每个人都有.”

埃克尔斯夫妇同意了.

“I keep thinking of a video we shot during the COVID-19 shutdown, 德鲁和科恩骑在沙滩车上的照片. Drew let Cohen drive it, and that video got so many shares. The look on Cohen’s face, it was pure joy,” Shelly said. “We’re all better off for having Cohen in our lives and everyone who comes into contact with him feels that way. There’s a lot of the ag community who have family members with special needs and they share the same sentiment. 农场是养育家庭的好方法, but especially raise a family member with special needs.”