An Undimished Life
Chloe Udaly, True Parent, August 2016
Late in my second trimester I was hit with the thought, “What if this baby grows up to be someone I don’t like?”
At the time, my worst fear was that my child would turn out to be a drug addict, a religious zealot, or a Republican. My partner and I didn’t want to know if we were having a boy or a girl. We didn’t pick a name or a color for the nursery in advance. It would all be a surprise. So my first big challenge was to trust that I’d be able to conjure up the kind of unconditional love that parenthood demands. I focused on letting go of my fears and expectations, and told myself that my most important job was to support this person in becoming the best “whomever” they were born to be. It never occurred to me that the course of that life—of all our lives—would be profoundly altered in the moments leading up to birth ...
It wasn't necessary
Dave Hingsburger, Of Battered Aspect, 14 August 2016
... I saw a man with Down syndrome walking, with great purpose, through the mall. He clearly had a destination and he clearly wanted to get there.
That's it. That's all.
Hardly worth a comment, except that it is. Nothing will ever change the fact that I come from a time where that would never have been seen, never imagined and therefore never attempted. I come from a time that he'd not be walking with purpose to a destination he wanted to get to, he'd be shuffling down a hallway with habit and boredom yapping at this feet. I still notice this. I still notice freedom. I hope I always do ...
Why We Chose to Forgo Down’s Syndrome Testing
Kemberlee Kaye, Legal insurrection, 15 August 2016
... Down’s Syndrome is not debilitating, nor does it make those gifted with an extra chromosome any less of a person. Yet despite the trend towards normalization and destigmatization of so many issues, conditions, and challenges, Down’s Syndrome is still viewed as cause and often encouraged as reason to prematurely end pregnancy ...
Annie Gets Her Own Apartment
Annie Niswander (slide show - click on the bottom right corner of each page)
This is the story about how my family and I helped to create the house that I live in and how I get the support I need to live on my own ...
Robert Perske, advocate for Richard Lapointe, others with disabilities, has died
At the time, my worst fear was that my child would turn out to be a drug addict, a religious zealot, or a Republican. My partner and I didn’t want to know if we were having a boy or a girl. We didn’t pick a name or a color for the nursery in advance. It would all be a surprise. So my first big challenge was to trust that I’d be able to conjure up the kind of unconditional love that parenthood demands. I focused on letting go of my fears and expectations, and told myself that my most important job was to support this person in becoming the best “whomever” they were born to be. It never occurred to me that the course of that life—of all our lives—would be profoundly altered in the moments leading up to birth ...
It wasn't necessary
Dave Hingsburger, Of Battered Aspect, 14 August 2016
... I saw a man with Down syndrome walking, with great purpose, through the mall. He clearly had a destination and he clearly wanted to get there.
That's it. That's all.
Hardly worth a comment, except that it is. Nothing will ever change the fact that I come from a time where that would never have been seen, never imagined and therefore never attempted. I come from a time that he'd not be walking with purpose to a destination he wanted to get to, he'd be shuffling down a hallway with habit and boredom yapping at this feet. I still notice this. I still notice freedom. I hope I always do ...
Why We Chose to Forgo Down’s Syndrome Testing
Kemberlee Kaye, Legal insurrection, 15 August 2016
... Down’s Syndrome is not debilitating, nor does it make those gifted with an extra chromosome any less of a person. Yet despite the trend towards normalization and destigmatization of so many issues, conditions, and challenges, Down’s Syndrome is still viewed as cause and often encouraged as reason to prematurely end pregnancy ...
Annie Gets Her Own Apartment
Annie Niswander (slide show - click on the bottom right corner of each page)
This is the story about how my family and I helped to create the house that I live in and how I get the support I need to live on my own ...
Robert Perske, advocate for Richard Lapointe, others with disabilities, has died
David Owens, Hartford Courant, 15 August 2016
For much of his adult life, Robert Perske worked on behalf of people with developmental disabilities, becoming the voice for many. Over the last 30 years, he worked on behalf of those he believed were wrongly convicted of crimes ...
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