Weekend reading and viewing: 5 - 6 March 2016

Awakening the Sleeping Parts
Kelle Hampton, Enjoying the Small Things, 3 March 2016
... Those are the words I was looking for. That movie, this week, the people I’ve met on this journey and all their stories I’ve been learning these past six years–they’ve awakened parts of me that were sleeping. And though that awakening brings responsibility and sometimes makes me sad, I promise you it’s far more fulfilling to live fully awake ...

Our story: juvenile attitudes towards people with Down syndrome

Mark Leach, Down Syndrome Prenatal Testing, 25 February 2016
... And, while what James said in telling Juliet to “hurry up” and “stop taking so long,” could be processed through my mind as akin to adult economists, bioethicists, obstetricians, geneticists, public health officials, cfDNA screening lab CEO’s and some of the trolls on this blog who say people with Down syndrome are “burdens” and “costs to society,” that wasn’t what James was saying ...


Singing for Themselves: Representations of Down syndrome in fiction
Sarah Kanake, Killings (blog) 29 February 2016

... the words ‘Down syndrome’ (or Down’s Syndrome as it was then) spoken by someone other than my mum, or a doctor. The words tumbled from Miss Penny’s mouth like they had been there all along and hit the floor with a bang ... Years later I read Boss of the Pool again and saw what a thoughtfully written disability text it is. I wanted to read more novels where Down syndrome was included. I looked for years and found very few ...

Going on offense vs. Down syndrome
Sally Jenkins, The Washington Post, 2 March 2016
Most people saw limits for Frankie Antonelli. Parents Frank and Debbie saw potential ... In essence, a sports-minded family decided to launch a private experiment in human potential: How much could they affect a genetic glitch, they wondered, with old-fashioned athletic conditioning? ...

Getting the balance right – the blending of natural supports with paid supports 
CRUcial Times, February 2016
The 50th edition of CRUcial Times focuses on the importance of carefully blending natural supports with paid supports as a strategy for enhancing the likelihood that people with disability get to live the life they want. This is very pertinent at the moment as the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) begins in Australia and there is potential for more people to receive funded support than in the past.

• CRUcial Times is a publication of the Community Resource Unit (CRU), a Brisbane organisation. CRU exists to create and promote positive change so that people with disabilities can belong to and participate in community life.