It Does Get Better: 12 Years of KEY

If I can’t find a creche for my 10-month-old, how do I find him a school when the time comes? That question followed me around all day on July 18, 2014, through emails, through my To Do list, through every ordinary task I powered through at work while quietly panicking underneath.

As I prepared to leave the office that afternoon, a thought occurred to me – reach out to Down Syndrome International to see if they can help. I googled them and immediately registered as an individual caregiver and quickly emailed my concern to them – ‘I have become a single parent because of my son’s diagnosis, I work full time and because he is not one yet, I get to work half day. However, when he turns one-year-old, I must work full day – I can’t seem to find a school that can take him now so the transition can be smooth when I must work full day – can you help?’

If I can’t find a creche for my 10-month old, how do I find him a school when the time comes?

To make a long story short, Down Syndrome International referred me to some Down Syndrome-affiliated organizations in Ghana and Multikids Inclusive Academy (MKA) was one of them. I went to their website, which boldly stated that the age of admission is 2 years and upwards, but I still booked the appointment. Within a period of one month, I went for an interview, took my KEY for assessments and negotiated hard for him to be admitted. On 1 September 2014, some 26 days shy of his first birthday, I handed him over to Mrs. Rebecca Kwardey, KEY’s first teacher, with mixed feelings amidst many assurances from the MKA Team that they would call me if day one proves to be too demanding for him.

My KEY’s enrollment into MKA was also the soft launch of my advocacy journey for inclusion – I could now openly talk about the personal efforts to change the disability narrative, the systemic challenges from my lived experience raising my son, and of course, like any parent, boldly boast of his achievements. A year into his enrollment, MKA was celebrating its 5th anniversary, and they produced a documentary that we were featured in. Fast forward to 16 July 2026, MKA held its 16th anniversary with a speech and prize-giving day to mark the end of the 2025/2026 academic year. It was an inspiring day to put it mildly, tributes from parents whose children’s stories will not be complete without mentioning the role of MKA and are now exploring higher heights, alumni of MKA sharing how MKA gave them the skills and confidence to venture into the world purposefully, student interns sharing their internship experiences and of course celebration of the current students for their achievements throughout the academic year!

A lot has happened in the last 12 years (jeez, we even survived Covid-19 and online schooling 😊), but this is what I can say for myself. I have remained a very hands-on parent in my KEY’s education – providing feedback, sharing helpful information from home to help with how he is taught and guided, asking for details on therapy activities so we can complement the school’s effort in that area at home, flagging observed behaviors at home that need to be comprehensively and holistically addressed.

There are people in society who believe that parents like me are unrealistic, that we push the inclusive education agenda too hard, whether through advocacy or simply by pointing out the gaps. They believe a child like our KEY cannot thrive in an educational system that highly prioritizes neurotypical learners, and that we should just be happy if he learns a trade instead. But here’s my response: if you agree he can learn a trade, then you’ve already agreed he can learn anything, under the right circumstances. That’s exactly the point. The right circumstance, the right learning environment, is what we should all be working to build.

The right circumstance, the right learning environment, is what we should all be working to build

My KEY has exceeded my expectations for his development since we received the diagnosis. My goal for him has always been for us to achieve independent living or assisted independent living status. This has pushed me to invest and explore every opportunity that will help us to achieve this goal. My KEY did not only get a certificate for progression on to the next class come 2026/2027 academic year, but he also got recognized as the best Swimmer of the Term for the Secondary division! When KEY started school, swimming was one of the therapies he took and today, he is enjoying it so much that he is winning accolades for it.

I guess as always, I am sharing this to inspire that new mother, the one who just had her baby with Down syndrome, or just received the diagnosis. Believe it when I say: it does get better.

It does get better

Oh, but it does. I’m not saying be unrealistic, I am saying let the wins, the milestone achievements, the unexpected show of personality, the perseverance from your little person, and the many beautiful surprises along the way be the gentle wind in your sail on this journey. Acknowledge them. Celebrate them. Do not lower your expectations for your child; rather, challenge them every time to be the best they can be under any given circumstance, and you will realize that they will rise to the occasion, every single time. Work with their teachers and therapists, if any, and that means finding a school that welcomes that level of collaboration, not one that sees it as intrusion.

As we count down to the 2026/2027 academic year and my KEY’s 13th birthday, I am in awe of how far we have come. If you’d asked me on July 18, 2014, I couldn’t have imagined this is where that question would lead. I can’t wait to see what treasures we discover in this new phase of teenage years.

I see you, and cheers to pushing on.
Debbie