Focus on Abilities, Not Diabilities

Jim Faber, President of the National Down Syndrome Congress recently spoke in Hannibal, MO.  During his speech he encouraged us to focus on the abilities of people with Down Syndrome rather than the disabilities.  He reminded all of us that with support and encouragement, our family members with Down Syndrome can have very fulling lives with accomplishments and achievements that many typically developing people don’t enjoy.

Yes, it is possible for someone with Down Syndrome to drive a car or graduate from college.  He gave the example of Karen Gaffney who swam the English Channel, then swam Lake Tahoe, then swam around the main island in Hawaii.  What an accomplishment.

Think about boy scouts becoming Eagle Scouts.  Only 5% of all Boy Scouts become Eagle Scouts, yet people with Down Syndrome achieve that high level of accomplishment when given the encouragement and direction.

There are few limits to what someone with Down Syndrome can achieve when given the right direction and when provided the tools to achieve.  Let’s give them all a chance to achieve their wildest dreams – then who knows – they just might achieve them.

Here is a link to the whole article.

http://www.hannibal.net/health/x915102938/-Focus-on-abilities-not-disabilities

 

Target using child with Down Syndrome in their ad

What a wonderful surprise that a retailer as large as Target is using kids with special needs in their ads.  While the use of special kids is nothing new, the retailer is using them as part of their usual flyer advertising rather than a special needs flyer.  In fact, there is no mention of them using a child with Down Syndrome which sends a wonderful message about acceptance of our kids into our society.

Another surprising thought of them using this child is that there is no self-congratulations.  Target doesn’t even mention that there is a child with DS in their ad.  There is no mention of any special needs products or offerings or anything.  It is pure acceptance of our special children into the mainstream advertising media.

I have to say I was quite thrilled with this.  I applaud Target for taking this approach and I look forward to seeing more special children in future ads.

Child with Down Syndrome on left side

Benefits of exercise on kids with Down Syndrome

My daughter Leah isn’t the most active person.  She would prefer to sit and use the computer more than any other activity.  Barring that she likes to read or watch TV.  However, there were two activities that she really loves.  One of them is cheerleading (covered in a previous post) and the other is Hapkido.

Hapkido is a Korean martial art that focuses on defensive moves and using leverage to protect yourself.  She really loves this activity.  She attends class 2 days every week for just over 1 hour each class.  At first I didn’t know how she would take to it but since her sister does it I thought we would try it.  I was surprised at how much she pays attention.  Not only is she doing the movements, she is growing in strength and coordination.   She looks forward to going each time class is held.  She is advancing as well.  She has risen to the level of yellow belt with 2 blue tips.  She is working on achieving her blue belt next.  She even gets to break boards.

The impact on her self confidence is amazing.  She is learning more about her body and her capabilities and she is interacting with many people from different age groups.  This is a typical martial arts class – not a special needs program.  They have made modifications on some of her skills to accommodate her low muscle tone, but mostly they have allowed her to let them know when she is at her limit.  And she rarely reaches her limit.

So, if you are looking for an activity for your child with DS, check into a martial art or similar activity.  Something where they can move around a lot and not get overly stressed.  You will be amazed at how much they may love it.

Leah in Hapkido

Cheerleaders – Wonderful group of people

Leah Cheerleading with 5 Star in October

My daughter Leah loves cheerleading.  She has been a part of different special needs cheerleading groups for a couple of years now.  Our biggest challenge is every time we sign her up, get to know the staff, and she begins to really love it; the cheerleading team relocates further north.

This has actually happened twice now.  It is a function of the economy and many cheer teams and gymnastics teams have smaller groups and therefore reduced income so they relocate to cheaper facilites.  However, from our standpoint, it is quite frustrating as we are only willing to go so far to keep her in cheerleading.

Well, we thought we would give the local park district cheer team a try.  It isn’t a special needs program and it has quite a few girls who have been cheering with the same group for quite some time so there are a lot of solid relationships built.  I wasn’t sure how well Leah would be accepted in this group.  I was actually quite nervous about it until my wife returned from Leah’s first session with them.

Man was she impressed.  They welcomed Leah into their group and began teaching her immediately.  They saw how passionate she was about cheering and they ran with it.  Some of the other kids are reserved about her and others are very open and welcoming.  That is about par for the course for any kids and I love it.

So Leah has her first cheerleading event coming up.  The team will be cheering for one of the local middle school basketball games.  We are very excited to see her in action in front of an audience and to see how it all goes.

I can’t wait to report on it and let you all know as well.  I truly hope this works out because of her passion for it and because it is local and likely to remain local.  It is our own park district after all.