Lessons from Canada: focus on employment

While October is Down Syndrome Awareness month in the US, and hosts Down Syndrome Awareness Week here in Australia, Canada holds Down Syndrome Awareness Week during the first week of November.

At the same time as we were enjoying an unexpected media and community focus on people with Down syndrome at work through Steven Payne and the Melbourne Cup, this year's Canadian Down Syndrome Society campaign concentrated on the positives of employing people with Down syndrome. Each day for a week, a different poster was released, addressing a particular issue issue, or telling a concise story about a featured individual.

Barriers to employment are similar the world over, and we can learn from others' advocacy efforts in the field. You can check out the campaign #SeeTheAbility in people with Down syndrome in the workforce online, here.

Delwyn Lobo was the face of the campaign, and was featured on its billboard: