top of page
Search

Happy World Down Syndrome Day!

It's March 21, and that means World Down Syndrome (Ds) Day! Why March 21? The date, 3/21, is representative of the trisomy of the 21st chromosome, the presence of a partial or full copy of chromosome 21, which results in Ds.




Each year, WDSD celebrates a particular theme, and this year, aptly, the theme is "Improve our support systems." That seems especially important at a time, in a climate, when supports as well as sentiments of and efforts for diversity, equity, and inclusion are being drastically eroded. If only the vision of Town 21 was real, right? It still can be.



There are so many wonderful resources out there now to learn about Ds and to connect people with Ds and families, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and others who love and know people with Ds. Down Syndrome International (DSI) has lots of resources as does the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) and so many others. Check them out if you haven't already!


My daughter and I are lucky enough to volunteer with a local branch of Buddy Up for Life. They coordinate so many amazing activities in communities across the nation. They offer tennis, pickleball, cardio and core fitness classes, summer camps, and so much more, and we love being buddies with the tennis program each weekend. So, check them out, too, and find your local Buddy Up!


NDSS has partnered with CoorDown to promote a new campaign "No Decision Without Us," reminding us of the importance of inviting everyone to the table and recognizing each person's agency and right to participate.


One great resource for friends and allies? NDSS' Preferred Language Guide, which can help clarify what we mean by "people first" language, if you're not already familiar. It takes just a moment to look through this short guide and to understand why the words we use matter. NDSS also has a great fact sheet about Ds. If you have someone with Ds in your family, among your circle of friends, in your neighborhood, in your or your children's classrooms, it's especially important to learn more, but really, everyone in society benefits when we all step up and challenges ourselves to understand others in our community and to build empathy.


So, on empathy and understanding, I'll conclude where I usually do, with books. We can't all get out and about and visit lots of different places and travel the world and stretch our boundaries and test our biases, not in person. I get that. But that's where books and other media step in. Today, we can all reach well beyond what we know (or think we know), beyond what's familiar, through books, radio, podcasts, streaming television, movies, and the vast rabbit hole that is the Web. (Ahem, another personal plug: That's also why libraries matter so much. Use them. Defend them. Please.)


One of my favorite mediums is books, especially children's books, and oooheeoooh, has the children's book industry grown and evolved in recent years. Several years back, I wrote one of my picture books, Hide and Shh!, about a main character who has Ds because there was so little representation in the market. Hide isn't meant to be about having Ds, because that's someone else's story to tell. It's a sibling story about compromise and flexibility, which really means it's a story about any two or more kids (little and all grown up) learning to play, work, and just be together. Dinah, who has Ds, and her big sister, Chloe, have different ideas about how to play, but they figure out there isn't just one right way, and it's okay to try each other's ways and even to blend them.


I wanted there to be a book out there that shows a child with Ds just being a kid, making tough kid decisions, having fun, problem solving, just like every other child, so I wrote Hide, and I'm so glad Dinah and Chloe are out in the world.



But you know what? I'm even more glad that there are so many other books out there now that are about children with Ds and their friends and families or that show kids with Ds just being kids, like our book does. There are even books out there written by authors with Ds, and that's the best thing of all. So, here are some other fabulous books by or about or featuring children and young people with Ds:


Picture Books



Chapter Books, Middle Grade, and Young Adult




What are some more ways you can celebrate World Down Syndrome Day or celebrate people with Ds every day?




Now, go rock your socks!
Now, go rock your socks!

Finally, I just stumbled on this awesome story about Connor Rodriguez, a young man with Ds who started his own all-natural dog treat business! Guess what my pup is getting this week? Click on the image below to go to Connor's shop!




 
 
 

Kommentare

Subscribe to Blog

Thanks for subscribing!

Drawing of Rabbit
bottom of page