Wesley Neufeld: Ambassador for the Down Syndrome Community

• Wesley Neufeld is a man who shows the community the value of Down syndrome members contributing what they can. 

• He was born in 1973, at a time when there was little support for people with Down syndrome. His mother, Rita, was immediately offered a way to send her baby to an institution, which she declined, horrified. 

• Wes was her first child, and she wasn’t sure what to do. Rita’s mother recommended she simply treat him like a normal child. That became Rita’s philosophy in raising Wes. She didn’t coddle him but helped him learn what he could. 

• By the time he was three years old, he had a vocabulary of 1,200 words. Then he had a stroke, losing all those words. He was frustrated when he came home because he had been able to communicate, but now he couldn’t. 

• Wes grew up in a loving home where he had expectations. His mother Rita gave him chores the same as his siblings. She related that his chore was folding wash clothes and that it took him two years to learn to do it well, but once he learned, it was firmly in his memory. 

• Even when he was a baby, Wes responded in a peaceful and satisfied way during faith services. He has a natural pull to the intangible ideas of God and faith. 

• Rita heard that it was common for people with Down syndrome to have early-onset Alzheimer’s or dementia, and she found that the best she could do to help prevent it was to keep him active and working. 

• She also wanted him to have purpose, and serve the community in the ways he could. One of the ways to help with this was to have Wes live with someone else so that if Rita died, Wesley’s life wouldn’t come crashing down. He now lives with a local couple who help keep him active and he still sees his mom regularly. 

• Wesley Neufeld is 50 years old and counting. He is an ambassador to Brooks on behalf of the Down syndrome community, demonstrating his ability to serve in the ways he can. 

Bibliography

Ramer, Kathy. “Interview on Wes Neufeld.” Conducted by Kaetrianne Ramer, February  

2, 2024.