Hello everyone! My name is Jessica Raschka and I am the President of the DSAW-Central WI chapter. I got involved with our local chapter after deciding to start the process of adopting a baby with Down syndrome.
This is not where my journey of Down syndrome started. I have always been drawn to individuals with Down syndrome and that lead me to an education in special education. I worked as an ABA therapist in the MN school district. I had quite a few students on my caseload who had Down syndrome. I later went on to proving ABA privately in home for families. Along with ABA I started to advocate for families in IEP meetings.
In 2009 my husband and I opened a store for special needs kids and their families. We sold equipment for therapy, visual aids, adaptive equipment and toys. Sadly we had to close our doors.
We were blessed with four amazing kids who have special needs themselves. We have a rare chromosome duplication called Duplication 15q13.3. Our kids also deal with autism, epilepsy, OCD, sensory processing disorder and feeding issues. So when it came to adopting we were happy to look into special needs adoption. After much prayer we decided to pursue adopting a baby with Down syndrome. That's how on Aug. 6th we came to be parents to a special little boy that we named Corbin. We are now apart of the Lucky Few!!
