Down syndrome awareness ... and beyond (4)

A distinct move to take 'awareness' up a notch, to examine what we mean and intend by 'awareness' activities has been emerging strongly in recent years' 'Awareness Months/Weeks/times, and is addressed here by the always-worth-reading David Perry. Thanks to Catia Panetta for drawing it to our attention:

Down syndrome isn’t just cute

David Perry, Aljazeera America, 15th October 2014

... Throughout October, adorable photos of people with Down syndrome and heartwarming, inspirational stories will stream across the Internet, all in the name of awareness. Shirts declare that extra chromosomes make you a hero. Other slogans and memes praise parents of children with Down syndrome. One T-shirt proclaims, “No frowns, just Downs!”

In fact, sometimes my son, a 7-year-old with Down syndrome, frowns. So do his parents. In the Down syndrome community, we have worked so hard to promote the positives that too frequently we leave no space to discuss the struggles ...

... (My son’s) value as a person is not based on his cuteness. What matters is our shared humanity ...