October is Down syndrome awareness month. I'm usually not a very big proponent of awareness months since I think anytime is a great time to make ourselves aware of a cause. But as it stands, I would like to challenge you to make it a point to learn something about Down syndrome this month that you don't already know. If possible, get to know a child or adult with Down syndrome. Feel free to share it here in the comments section - we would all benerfit from learning from your experience.
1 comment:
This is a wonderful idea!
When Samantha was just over a year old, I took her to our local ARC picnic. There were some small children there, but there were a lot of adults with intellectual disabilities, many of whom had Down syndrome. I was nervous--I'd never really had any interactions with anyone over the age of about 4 with Ds, but I was approached by a woman who engaged me in conversation. She was a year younger than I am, and I was bowled over. She was so wonderful to talk to, and told me about her life and her job. She held Samantha (Sammi was quite taken with her!) and I took their picture. She left a very lasting impression on me, and made me feel really good about Samantha's future. On my drive home that afternoon, I kept thinking about how I wanted to talk to her more, and thought of all the things I wanted to ask her. She helped me get over my fear, and created a whole new picture of Down syndrome.
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