Community Outreach
/October blew by us so fast, my head is still spinning!!! I have some posts left over that I really wanted to get out for DS Awareness month. However, although this blog seeks to raise awareness about DS, it is about Hazel first. She is a baby first, and I a mommy. Things like birthdays and Halloween could not be put on the back burner. Here is one of the posts I was hoping to get out...
Hazel and I visited her big cousin Stella's classroom to raise awareness in our community about Down Syndrome. Most of our schools are very proud to offer full inclusion for all special needs children.
Hazel was very well received by all the children and the staff. It was great to be able to explain a little bit about what having Down Syndrome means to the grade 4 students. Although, they have students in the school with t21, some of them did not understand what the syndrome actually meant for that person.
When the Q & A was opened up, the students were eager to share stories about the things that they did know about DS. A common theme that the children were unsure of was the difference between Autism and DS. The teacher and I tried our best to differentiate between the 2, but it is very important that the teaching and education go on in the home.
Please feel free to use either of these videos as a conversation starter with your children. For more information on DS you can visit this page as well.
I found this video on Autism. I hope these videos help your children to understand and relate to other children in their schools that may have Down Syndrome or Autism.
This was the speech Stella wrote to introduce Hazel to her class and teach them a little something about Down Syndrome. We had a separate recording session so that she was loud and clear.
Stella also brought this video to my attention. She thought that it may help others to see how beautiful people with DS can be.
