Weekend reading and viewing: 29th - 30th June 2013

Interview with actor Sarah Gordy,

Haley Goleniowska, Downs Side Up, 24th June 2013
Sarah is a beautiful, talented, humorous actor, (you may have seen her in Upstairs Downstairs or Holby City), a charity ambassador, a public speaker and a campaigner. Sarah also has Down's Syndrome, but is is not all she is and she does not let it define her.

13 thoughts for your 13th birthday
Darius Andaya, Down Syndrome Foundation (Vancouver), 25th June, 2013
... He has the temperament of a young man, he has a crush, his voice has deepened, and he’s starting to value his privacy. The years crept up on us really quickly, and without us even noticing it, he’s now a teenager.

Tired of labels
Big Blueberry Eyes, 27th June 2013
Why do people with disabilities have to continuously be labeled and have label upon label stacked upon their shoulders? Can't they just be? Can't they just exist as iswithout having to fit in to boxes and labels?

It's a matter of geography

Rachel Leslie, Unless, 26th June 2013

Our visit to Holland has been anything but scenic. We didn't draw the short straw with many of the normal health concerns associated with DS, my perfect daughter's heart has the tiniest of murmurs, her ECG was fine, she was blessed. When she was in Prep we found out that she has Grave's Disease (hyperthyroidism). Usually people with DS are more likely to have hypothyroidism, but ... the toll this disease has taken on our little girl have made living with a child with an intellectual impairment just that little bit harder.

10 Tips for Selecting Toys for Your Speech Delayed Child

Katie Yeh, Friendship Circle, 25th June 2013

As a speech-language pathologist, I am asked what toys I recommend most for children with speech and language delays all the time.

Jack and Mollie = Friendship | Kids are Kids

5 boys + 1 girl = 6, 19th June 2013

Tonight I met two amazing people. Two people who are friends. These two young adults are beautiful in their own way but together they are superstars ...These two are the definition of a beautiful friendship that is there because they want it to be.

Individualised funding fuels Damien Conte’s art practice
Accessible Arts Feature, 21st June 2013
Cheryl Gardner, a Living Life My Way Champion from northern NSW, and her son Damien Conte have been self-managing Damien’s Community Participation funding since 2008. Damien is a young artist with autism. He has a limited ability to communicate verbally and uses painting to share his inner world with others. Cheryl shares her story of how individualised funding has allowed Damien to develop his passion for painting.

Taking a step towards a truly inclusive workplace
Karen Palenzuela, Ramp Up,  28th June 2013

Deb Russell headed the Disability and Inclusion division of US drugstore giant Walgreens where she successfully championed an initiative to employ people with disabilities. The initiative started with one Walgreen distribution centre with the result of having people with disabilities make up 10 per cent of the centre's workforce. The initiative proved so successful that Walgreens has applied it to its 20 other distribution centres and is currently working to put it into operation across its entire network of 8000 stores. ABC Ramp Up spoke with Deb Russell about her work and getting people with disabilities into meaningful employment.