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Thank you Annie, Patty and Cass. Yes, Can You Feel the Love is a beautiful song and it does bring a lump to my throat when she performs with any piece as I am very proud of her.

Maybe we should start a thread Occasions when you thought of your Ditto friends ... - Cass

Excellent idea, Cass! Shall I leave it to you to start since it's your idea?

Glad you like them, Heather. Thank you. You are right, Chantal has definitely improved over the past year. I so wish I had her self-discipline to practice half as much as she does. She never misses a day and sometimes practices way, way over the required practice time, which is generally about half an hour per instrument per day, though she often does around two hours.



Yes, Nikki is at one with her piano and music. How wonderful that it gives her so much joy to compensate for her blindness.



I don't know if anyone noticed the adorable little girl seated near the piano with pigtails. She had Down's syndrome, recently joined the orchestra and taken up violin at just six years of age.

Awww, thank you, Maxine.

Thank you, Peter.

If I may, I had a couple of questions? I hope they will not come off as impolite

Of course you may and it isn't in the least bit impolite. In the past the fear of the unknown about Down's caused many misconceptions, so it's good to ask to raise awareness.

Does she get really nervous before a performance?

There was only one time when she said she was "scared" about doing her solos which she mentioned the day before a concert. I stressed to her that she really doesn't need to do any solos if she doesn't want to; in fact I would have preferred she didn't if it made her nervous and told the teachers but she was determined and insisted that she wanted to. The staff were wonderful with her and whatever they did worked because she has been fine ever since.

I am also interested to know about how she responds to the applause and appreciation shown by the public?

See this beaming smile?



This is how she responds. She loves it!

… my knowledge of Down's syndrome (which, if I am correct, is also refered to as Trisomy 21) is very limited.

My knowledge of Down's was also limited before I had her. The Down's my daughter has is the common Trisomy 21, though there are other types. The ability range is vast - much more so than of able people, e.g. I have a friend whose daughter of the same age with Down's has a mental age of a baby. It certainly wasn't anything to do with the want of trying as they worked hard at stimulating her and are also a very intelligent couple (she's a solicitor with three degrees) and he has an MA in Education. I am blessed!