06/08/2026
The viral news circulating has left our community under attack, left families defending and advocating over time and has had alot of us in big feelings. As a mom I know Saturday was a hard day for me mentally and emotionally. While I tried hard to ignore the post, shares, messages sent to me. It finally took a toll, when we found out Landen had down syndrome it was 3 weeks after he was born (while I knew at birth, no provider ever confirmed until he was hospitalized). I went through a Rollercoaster of emotions, I also thought that he wouldn't be able to function and would completely self sufficient on me and my husband. But after educating myself, I changed my viewpoint on that very quickly. I can say now Landen is very high functioning and he will go on to live a pretty average life. I go on this this spill of emotions to say, regardless of our son's "disability" he is just a toddler, he has all the emotions of any other child. He is mischievous, he is happy, he is grumpy. He plays with other kids, he does everything any other kid does besides he has 4 therapies a week and specialist appointments. We have integrated that into our routine and we go with the flow.
Ds children, teens, adults are human beings. They deserve to go to school and be treated the same, the deserve to be able to work, the deserve to be looked at the same. They deserve to be treated the same. They deserve to be wanted. While there are different levels to down syndrome, some high functioning and others not. That doesn't determine their value in the world. They are deeply loved by their families and to see how some people feel about the and see them as less than has been a hard thing to see.
So please if you want to make a change, educate yourself, volunteer in our community events, ask me any questions, I'm an open book. It's simple things that make a huge difference. All these kids and families want is to be seen and accepted exactly for who they are. Kindness goes such a long way.
