MABERLY, Ont. (25/03/2018) — Ivy flips through a photo book of Disney princess, Belle, from Beauty and the Beast. Before Ivy was diagnosed with leukaemia, she wasn’t far off from the development level of a “typical” kid, even though she has down syndrome, says her mother, Melissa. They were working hard to teach her words, she was learning to walk, eating all varieties of foods and learning signs for many of the words she couldn’t say. Melissa believes there is a stereotype that children with down syndrome won’t develop the same mental abilities as their peers so they don’t do enough to empower them to learn and be independent. After spending a year in the hospital, her family is trying to bring her back up to age appropriate development for when she starts kindergarten this fall.