Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Welcome to October, Down Syndrome Awareness Month!

Today begins the 31 for 21 Challenge so I thought I'd give my blog a fresh new look. Hopefully the blue is easier on your eyes than the pink and green, because I want you to stop in and read often! I also hope to see more comments and open dialog with my readers.

I decided the best way to start the month is to start with the basics. After the nomination of Sarah Palin, the National Down Syndrome Congress and the National Down Syndrome Society put together this press release to encourage accurate information in the media regarding Palin's son with Down syndrome. I thought they did a great job of keeping the info brief, yet touched on significant aspects and common misconceptions.

If you have a question about Down syndrome in general, Sean in particular, or parenting a child with Down syndrome; I invite you to leave a question in the comments so that I can respond on my blog. I have the comments set up to take anonymous comments, so if you are too shy to ask you can leave a question without outing yourself.

I have a tendency to forget sometimes that everyone that knows me doesn't necessary know as much about Down syndrome as I do. It's amazing how much your world changes when you are exposed to something new! When Sean was born, I knew very little about Down syndrome so I had no frame of reference to help me understand his diagnosis. I'm happy that I have been able to do as much as I can in spreading awareness in the past 4 years, but I still realize that everyday a new family is getting the diagnosis of Down syndrome and they do not know anything or anyone who has had this experience. So let's do our best this month to reach new people! You never know who is going to need to know next.

3 comments:

JennyH said...

Good post and so true. You learn so much after you have a child with Ds. Then you just assume everyone else has learned these things as well.

Melissa @ Banana Migraine said...

Great post! I tend to forget too that not everyone has done the research that we have!

RK said...

I like the blue... great reminder, too.