Weekend reading, listening and viewing: 31st January - 1st February 2015

Naturally
Michael Steinbeck, Open Future Learning, 28th January 2015
A song about the importance of home.




Dear New Parents of a Baby With Down Syndrome, I Feel Compelled to Tell You This

Jison Lee, The Mighty, 28th January 2015

... I don’t know you, so I will not tell you how you feel or what’s right and wrong. I feel compelled to tell you something, however, because I don’t want you to leave this place alone. You’re not alone. What’s done is done. Down syndrome has entered your life and that will never change, no matter what happens down the road. For that, I consider us connected ...

Hong Kong Down Syndrome Photo Series Challenges Stereotypes
Hong Wrong, 25th January 2015
A new photography project by Frank Freeman aims to challenge societal stereotypes and improve understanding of an important cause…

Watching granddaughter Lucy singing on stage, and grateful for the moment

Beverly Beckham, Boston Globe, 18th January, 2015
There is such joy in Lucy. I don’t always see it. Sometimes I’m too focused on improving her, reminding her to stand up straight, to look a person in the eye when she’s saying hello and goodbye, to slow down her words when she talks ...

My daughter's 'a different type of perfect'

Kelly Dugan, Sydney Morning Herald, 28th January 2015

... people think we are strong, because we just get on with it, we have no other choice. Keep going, just keep going. If I was strong, I would not have bad days. If I was strong, I could deal with the emotions in my life. I don't. I bury them and pretend they are not there.

I have no time for self pity and I do not have the luxury of having time out. I have no choice but to take a deep breath and keep going. I am not amazing, I am grumpy, I am tired, I am scraping through one day to the next. I am just a person that became the parent to a different type of perfect child and sometimes I wish I wasn't ...

The problem with ABC's new disability series, 'Attitudes'

Jacki Brown, Daily Life, 26th January 2015

... Is this series really changing attitudes? Or is it merely reinforcing them? I would argue the latter ...