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The Sistred
Our family is joining in our local community to walk in support of and advocate for individuals with Down syndrome! We hope that through, education, inclusion and advocacy the world that surrounds our dear Quail will be able to see the beauty and gift of a girl that we see.
Thank you for supporting her and our family. Click to learn more about the Buddy Walk Fundraiser and the National Down Syndrome Society.
If you would like to donate on behalf of our Quail, please click here!
If she’s happy, you’ll know it.
It’s Down syndrome Awareness Month! It’s a month where those of us in the community raise awareness and celebrate our loves who happened to be born with a little bit extra. One way I like to do this is to participate in our cyber-buddy Tricia, over at Unringing the Bell‘s creation- 31 for 21.
Here’s the skinny- and hop over there to sign up if you would like to play along: You post every day, at least once day, for 31 days (each of them in the month of October, which is Down syndrome Awareness Month) on any topic, to raise awareness about Trisomy 21. 31 for 21! (Topics about Down syndrome are not neccesary, though it’s encouraged that you mention why you are taking part in the challenge at some point during the 31 days.)
I’m taking part again for my fourth year because Disability Awareness and Acceptance has always been a part of my make-up. But in February 2009, it hit closer to my home and heart. When the Quail came to us in all her glory we learned post-natally about that little bit extra residing on her chromosomal pattern in every cell of her being. And we believe that about her with all of our hearts- she isn’t lacking a thing. She’s all there. And a little bit extra.
Just like her sisters, who very few, other than the geneticists in our lives; would describe as “typical”. She’s a wonder. We’re blessed to get to witness their growth on a daily basis. That said, I don’t think I’m going to go on rants about stereotypes, or resource listings or basic Down syndrome information this year. That’s already out there. Check back in my archives to the month of October in 2009 or 2010 for my versions of that. I would reckon they still hold water. Or for more up to date information go visit our cyber-pals who are also participating in 31 for 21 and get schooled by them with a personal touch. I know I plan too and Tricia will keep a list of where to find them!
This year I’m going to continue to do something more simple. I’m going to share 31 ordinary things about my extraordinary girl. I’ve spent almost 4 years going on about what a wonder she is and have decided that my contribution to Down syndrome Awareness efforts will show the beauty of how ordinary life continues when you have someone with a little something extra in your life
Apparently in my world, soon means about 3 months! This bird has had a lot of change in the last few months. Good and perplexing. The history of photos shows that since the day after her birthday she has taken to two-leggedness! We are thrilled and have our haz-mat gear at the ready to undo what this child can do in a matter of minutes. Need your cupboard unpacked? Done. Need your trashcan full of dirty diapers bathed? Done. Need your basket of snacks set out for the cat? Done. You get the picture. She is mobile and in. to. everything. Lovey had a good explanation recently to one of our friends, Zuzu is rambunctious. The Quail is mischievous. If you don’t believe me, just squat down to her eye level and make a request. It will be met with a glimmer in her eye before she does an about face and runs away, or she’ll simply smack you. Of course if the latter is the case, no worries- she’s the first to notice someone’s tears, from across the house, sign sad and go running to hug them. She’s all about the feelings this girl.
Also she is the proud owner of a full set of pearly chompers now. During the teething process she developed a thumb chewing habit, that has left it’s battlescars. You can hear her moaning along with the rhythmic chewing from anywhere in the house. We try to intercede and offer somewhat tastier options. If we forget to offer an alternative and simply state, “No chew!” She responds with a big grin, the aforementioned twinkle in her eye, and proceeds to stuff her whole hand in her mouth. Nice. But the teeth are hear now, she loves to brush them and we’re hopeful she’ll make it through this phase with all 10 fingers attached, if a little worse for the wear.
Oral motor wise she is sailing along. She had her most recent program plan update in early May with the famed Sara Rosenfeld Johnson; who incidentally moved her practice from across the country to within 4 hours of us! It went swimmingly and the Quail has made amazing progress since last fall. The thing that is missing at this point for speech is volitional airflow. She definitely tries to talk now, and she rounds her lips and she has recently started responding when we ask her to say something on command and her signing vocabulary is awesome. But it is still extremely challenging to get her to repeat a sound consistently the more she thinks about it.
She knows what’s in front of her. The girl does excellent identifying everyday items, foods, colors, different sizes, clothes, body parts, animals and people. And she can tell you what she wants. But she can’t blow- she can’t force air from her body. She now has the strength to talk. She’s chomped her way through the oral motor strengthening exercises. She does well holding her tongue in her mouth. When it’s out it’s because she means it to be, rest assured. She cognitively understands what you want her to do. And she gets furious when it’s hard for her. But she’s determined and we’ve added some new apraxia tricks to our repertoire including the illustrious Renee Roy Hill; apraxia bilabial shapes to add a kinesthetic approach to sound. During the meeting with Sara we broke out the shape for M sounds and were thrilled when we got an immediate mmmmmmm from the Quail. We had not been able to get her to consistently make this sound with either visual or auditory prompts. Needless to say we bought the full kit and are getting ready to move on through the alphabet. We are also working on our huh and hoo sounds. While Sara’s approach would thrill any physical therapist, Lovey has also had slightly more, um, musical approaches to encouraging her speech including a little Sam Cooke for the huh and hah sounds and a little Chicken Payback for the ooo-ooo-ooo lip rounding exercises. Sara has a pre-heirarchy we are working through to get to the pre-horn! We’re pre-pre! Fortunately Zuzu thinks it’s all neat and is tickled to model any and all activities asked.
Now for the concerning update. She got sick a lot her first winter as you know (RSV, pneumonia, in daycare so regular colds) and she refluxes a lot- a happy spitter though- no pain cries. We eventually got her on zantac. That didn’t fix it so then prevacid. We found out when she was 15 mos with a swallow study and upper GI that she had a duodenal stenosis and she had surgery to repair it last year at this time. She also went on thickened liquids a month pre-surgery. At that time nectar thick.
She did well for a number of months and then last October we went to get a new swallow study in preparation for a Sara update to see if we could stop the thickened liquids. We were told that whereas in the first swallow study they saw penetration (liquid going near the air tubes but not in), this time they saw aspiration and we needed to move up to honey thick. They explained it that as her anatomy grew it would start a learning curve of using her muscles again and again with each growth spurt and that we couldn’t do any active “swallowing exercises” tills she was developmentally 10-12 years old. The SRJ oral-motor strengthening stuff would help the mouth but not the swallow delay and weak peristalsis that pushes the food down.
So she does well and then a couple of months ago she started refluxing more frequently. Probably about 3-4 times a week she would come home with a change in clothes and school would average about 2-3 Tbsp came up.
So we went back to the Ped GI a couple of weeks ago and they ordered a new Upper Gi, Swallow study (which is next week) and upped her prevacid to 1 melt tab in the am. and 1/2 in the evening.
The Uppper GI brought up a whole new round of concerns. I wanted it to look at the surgical site and make sure that there was no new blockage or problem with the surgical site. That was fine.This time he focused on lower and started to express concern about potential intestinal malrotation. He called the surgeon to ask what they saw when they went in last year and the result was, “her intestinal anatomy is just a little different”. The GI said that if it was intestinal malrotation we would have been sent to surgery like the previous year so not to worry. That since there weren’t any significant complications from it we wouldn’t go back in to surgery. They said there was also a mild gastric emptying delay and they felt that this was responsible for her bad reflux. They said that the food sitting longer in the stomach was causing gastric irritation and thus bad reflux. They said after she has been on the increased Prevacid dose for a couple of weeks we would evaluate to see if we need to add a low dose of erythromyacin to speed up the stomach emptying. They had also said to be certain that she has the prevacid 20-30 minutes prior to eating.
I talked to the nurse again last week and she clarified that it has to be no throwing up in order to be considered successful and not move on to a new treatment. I also found out I’ve also been giving it to her wrong- I’ve been letting her chomp it. The throwing up is better but it still happens and in almost 3 weeks she’s come home with having thrown up 4 times. I’ve also just heard her reflux 5 times. So better- but not gone. Still 2-3 TBS of throw up each time. We’ve also switched to us thickening her liquid at home and sending it in that way so that there is no question of if the liquid was too thin and she just can’t control where it goes. Last week I got some advice that has made the prevacid super easy. Now we put the melttab in a spoon, add a drop of water, wait a second or two then let her eat it off the spoon. It melts and she gets all of it. Since that change last week she’s only thrown up once and refluxed twice. So I’m hopeful we’re on the right track.
I also just don’t know how to be sure we’re getting adequate care. I can’t believe she’s this old and we’re still finding out stuff this basic- that her anatomy just isn’t organized normally!
At the last GI visit 2 weeks ago they said that she now has a slightly enlarged liver and they felt it was due to the pressure differential from her VSD and once that was repaired the liver should return to normal without long-standing side effects. Well her next echo is scheduled for 7/7. I called the ped card to ask if we need to move up that visit. It’s at this one that if she still had a VSD (which she obviously still does) that we were planning to schedule her pre-op visit for next spring and open-heart surgery for the repair. I’m wondering if this is reason to move up that timeline and also if the VSD can be related to the sluggish intestinal track and if any of that will improve when she gets a repair. The GI nurse thought it wasn’t related. I thought I had heard people on here talking about open heart surgery and its effect on reflux- but I need to go back search for those posts.
I tell ya- the Ds, is nothing. I get it. I can work with it. It’s this other anatomy stuff that scares me and makes me feel helpless to know what to do for her. But the main thing is we’re working on it, and we’ll figure it out.
We’re just lucky she’s so dang charming- see for yourself!
You abuse the word.
You say it with a lightness
that ignores my twenty-nine year old
sister playing with Barbie dolls
and unable to run her own bathwater
for fear she might scald the skin
off her thighs.
You say it with a lightness
that ignores my family’s celebration
when years and years of work
finally paid off and my sister learned to read
the year her brother, four years younger,
started high school.
You say it with a lightness
that ignores the woman who
would not let her daughter
be near my sister because
she thought my sister’s brain
might be contagious
and you say it with a lightness
that ignores my sister’s furrowing
brow when she overhears the word
you think she does not understand.
You say it with a lightness
that ignores every stare
my fearless sister walks under.
You say it with a lightness
that ignores the boy in my sister’s class
who bruises his temples with his fists
because he is frustrated hunting words
his tongue doesn’t understand how to form:
words like “toothpaste” and “basketball” and
“I don’t know how to tell you my body hurts.”
You say it with a lightness
that ignores the boy in my sister’s class
who dies at twenty-two because his contorted
body was born stamped with
an expiration date earlier than yours
and you say it with a lightness
that ignores my exhausted mother
trying to tell my sister what death is.
You say it with a lightness
that ignores everything else my sister is:
her love of rocking chairs and dancing,
fleece sweaters and Mexican food;
her fear of thunderstorms
and the sound of people fighting.
You abuse the word.
You do not know better
than to disrespect its weight.
After years and years of work,
maybe you will learn.
I have all the time in the world to go on and on about my sweet Quail. Why? Because she’s here with me, with us, with a whole community of people who know and love her more than anything. She is blessed with a set of family, friends, caregivers and community members that are thrilled to bits over every single little thing she does. From standing up, to signing, to grins & giggles. She is blessed, and she blesses us everyday. She is changing hearts and minds about that stereotype hovering over people with intellectual disabilities. By merely knowing her, they know more. They know she is full of possibility and wonder. They know she is smart, kind, loving and adaptable.
Everyone who knows her, knows that. But not everyone knows her. In some countries the stigma and stereotypes around people with disabilities still form decisions and close minds to the possibility and wonder in children with disabilities.
Fortunately there are families out there who fight for these children. Good people like The Davis Family, who with the support of Reece’s Rainbow, raised thousands of dollars to be able to offer sweet Kirill a chance at a life with a forever family. They flew over the ocean and swam through the sea of redtape that is international adoption. They traveled to meet him two separate times and stood for 5 hours in front of a judge declaring their love and intentions to make a life for Kirill.
They were told no.
They were told Kirill is socially unadaptable because he carries a diagnosis of Down syndrome.
This is unacceptable. This dear boy will be locked in a mental institution for the rest of his life if a family is not allowed to adopt him. The family is there. The money to cover the expenses is there. The love is there. This family’s eyes are opened.
The judges are not.
I’m posting this in hopes of raising awareness. Money helps some situations. Hearts help others. Please spread the word about Kirill and stop by the Davis family blog to show your support in their efforts.
Come read Courtney’s words and see a video of Kirill with the momma who already loves him. Come open your eyes.
We’ve talked about this before. Today is a day to spread awareness about the need to rid your vocabulary of the R-word. You can click on the picture above to sign a pledge to stop using that word.
Last year I wrote this:
“But sadly, in our world, in this day, those everyday situations (calling someone a ret@rd) can befall horrible outcomes. Not everyone respects people’s dignity of risk or frankly- human life. Some people spend their time making others who have worked so hard to be a part of the community, to be accepted, to at least be allowed to live in peace, live a nightmare- at best. As a mother I hear about these stories and I want to take both of my children in my arms and never let anyone talk to them without first going through a battery of testing of my own. The fear eats at me. The worry of what I can do to prevent any harm befalling anyone tugs at my soul. Why anyone would insist that their right to call someone a ret@rd is more of a priority than the person on the receiving end’s dignity is beyond me. Just because we have the right to say what we want doesn’t mean we have to. I will never understand people defending their right to be mean. It’s one thing for someone to make a mistake, realize it, apologize and learn from it. We’re all human. It’s a diagnosable personality disorder to defend the right to hurt others.
The critics and trolls insist that as parents and advocates asking you to please remove this slang from your vocabulary is petty, politically correct and an overstatement of the issue at hand. I would say the extinction of Ernie Hernandez Jr’s life is a sad statement to the seriousness of the issue.
Our world is changing though. It’s this fact that restores my faith. The world understands now that people who clinically have the diagnosis of mental retardation can learn. They may learn differently, but they do learn. The term retardation when used appropriately isn’t the issue. The issue is that a wide sect of people use it to degrade others and then defend their right to be ignorant about it. The issue is so significant that even the medical community has decided to step in and revise their language. The correct term in the DSM-V will be Intellectual Disability.
We can all learn, if we are willing. As a friend, a community member, as a co-worker, as a family member, as a fellow human being I am telling you it gives me pause when you say ret@rd in reference to something you did that you think was stupid. I know you may not have thought about it before. I know you may not have had any reason to question it. Everyone says it right?
Well give me a few minutes of your time and open your hearts and mind and take the opportunity to learn about the history of people diagnosed with mental retardation. Read this. Know the struggles that have been faced and won, and those that still exist. If you still disagree about the significance of the R word, that’s fine. Just don’t use it around me or my family. That’s at least a start.”
This year, I still feel the same. I still champion the cause of equal rights and respect for all people. This year though…I know better. Courtney’s words, are often funny, silly, heart-wrenching and frankly one of the high-lights of my day. Her words last year on March 1, 2010, well somehow I missed them then. But I hear them now. I feel them in my heart. They empower me, to empower my little birds.
I’m not a confrontational person. I know I can’t change how someone else behaves. I can only choose how I respond and in doing so set an example for the two little sponges who watch me like a hawk to see how they should behave in this world of ours. It starts there. It starts in your heart. It starts at home. It starts in your community.
It’s awareness. Once you have it- you can’t go back. Once you know my child, she becomes the example you have for a particular image or term. She gives you a reason to want to change your mind and know more. She breaks your stereotype. She gives you pause. She causes you to think. Once you know her, truly know her, you won’t make a second mistake of underestimating her and writing her off. Because she’s watching. She’s listening. She’s learning. Just.Like.You.Do.
Respect her and she’ll respect you. Spread the word to end the word. Just don’t say it. It’s that simple.
I know better. And so does the Quail. And so does everyone who knows and loves her.
Buddy Walk snuck up on this year and we were happy to be able to go at the last minute after being fairly certain we weren’t going to be able to attend either of our local ones. Fortunately our Family Connections friend Kim, who also happened to be the top fundraiser this year was extremely persistent and convinced us to sneak it into our schedule. She even managed to get the Quail on the T-shirt as a participant as well. Here are a few shots from the beautiful day. It makes my heart swell to see all of the folks gather and celebrate. I still am a bit intimidated by the event though and haven’t managed to organize the Quail’s own team yet. I’m not quite so sure what makes me feel shy about asking people to join us. When I see everyone else’s entourage I inevitably wish I had been braver. One of these years. In the meantime…
Not so very long ago, it was much harder to raise your child that has special needs in your home. I’m thankful every day that our little family was created in the here and now. Here are just a few of the things we are thankful for.
2. Our pediatrician
3. Our pediatric cardiologist
4. Our pediatric surgeon
5. Our Children’s Hospital
6. Our children’s hospital that will do the Quail’s OHS if it ends up being needed
7. Our OT and PT
8. Our feeding specialist
9. Our geneticist
10. Our Down syndrome Family Alliance
11. Our Family Connection
12. Our preschool
13. Our speech therapist
14. The Babycenter Down syndrome boards
16. Advocates like Dave Hingsberger that make me think
17. Friends like Pudge & Zippy that tickle our funny bones
18. Places like The Waisman Center that educated me and do so much to further our understanding of disability
18. Friends like Down syndrome New Mama & Einstein Syndrome who help us get to know each other and understand our little ones.
19. Photographers like Conny & Bethany that help make it even easier to see the beauty in what for some is difficult.
20. Publications from Woodbine House that help a new mom & dad know exactly what to do when, to help their little one with a little extra, know every last little thing they should!
21. American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
22. The Arc
23. Disability Studies, Temple U
24. BLOOM
25. DownSyndrome
26. Down syndrome: Health Issues
27. Down Syndrome for New Parents
28. National Association for Down syndrome
29. Buddy Walk
30. Special Olympics
31. R-Word,
32. The National Down syndrome Congress
33. National Down Syndrome Society
34. NDSS National Policy Center
35. Patricia Bauer
36. Oz Squad
37. Reece’s Rainbow
38. The Recreation Council of Greater St. Louis
39. The T21 Traveling Afghan Project
40. Jennifer Graf Gronenberg , Kathryn Lynard Soper , Gifts and the other Holland officienados who will help you get there
41. Down Syndrome Pregnancy support and resources
42. And all the amazing bloggers that share our daily lives and experiences. Check the sidebar here for just a few. Yes, really those aren’t anywhere near all of them that are out there. As you visit them, note their sidebars and all the others that have graced us with just a little of their time, energy, wisdom and charm so that we know that nowadays- we aren’t alone. We’re in this together. It takes a village, and I’m grateful for mine.
The Quail’s been a busy bird in terms of her eating in the last few months. This has probably been the most challenging area for us. Mostly it’s the learning curve of repeatedly finding out that you don’t know exactly what all is going on inside that little digestive tract and it’s openings. We’ve been doing oral-motor therapy since the Quail was about 5.5 months old under the supervision of our super OT Kathy. Last spring we had the opportunity to take part in one of Sara Rosenfeld Johnson’s traveling clinic and get a formal evaluation. This happened after our first swallow study and Upper GI and before the infamous duodenal stenosis repair. Since that time the Quail’s been on a bit of a diet yo-yo. Right after surgery she gained 2 lbs within a month. This isn’t too surprising considering that even with all the roadblocks she had to good nutrition she managed to plant her weight firmly at the 50% growth curve on the standard charts. As her food world has opened up, she has dived in with vigor. Since that time she has been working her way through Sara’s straw hierarchy and working on the bite tube set. She’s advanced to being able to chew a lot more soft, meltable type foods in a munching style. The straws have helped tremendously with tongue retraction and she does keep her tongue in its little warming hut most of the time. Both Kathy and Sara have been great about offering up and trying a variety of suggestions of oral-motor exercises and when one doesn’t work, getting rid of it and moving on to something else. Sara has been clear that the more enjoyable the activity is for the Quail the more successful we will be with the oral-placement therapy and the safer and happier eating will be with the added bonus of clearer speech as she grows.
Have I mentioned before how much of a…ahem…temper…the Quail can have when she doesn’t like or want to do something? There’s no bossing this girl around. We tried our best to be prepared for the program plan update. Sara comes through town 2 times a year and you can get a plan update, record the session and bring your entourage of therapists and family members along to learn the protocol and understand the therapy better. The Quail packs a roomful and we’re grateful for all the extra time out of everyone’s busy days that they have been able to muster to join us.
In preparation we repeated the swallow study last week in hopes of good news that maybe we could cease thickening her liquids. The straw hierarchy is supposed to be practiced with think liquids, but since it hasn’t been safe for the Quail we’ve thickened it to a nectar consistency since our swallow study last April. I guess what I found out is that I didn’t know exactly how aspiration and dysphagia worked. I thought as she got older and stronger she would have more control. The SLP who did the swallow study said that typically what happens is that when a growth spurt happens and her “equipment” grows; she has to work her muscles harder to achieve the same result. So her risk for aspiration may actually vary as she ages. She said that until she is 8-10 years old mentally we wouldn’t be able to intentionally work on swallowing exercises. So for now the best way to develop her skill is practice with safe foods. During this swallow study she showed micro and actual aspiration with liquids up to a honey consistency. This was disappointing because last April she was cleared for a nectar or thinner consistency with the liquids. It was noted though that with the honey consistency and an upright position and proper chin-tuck she showed no difficulty or aspiration when she drank through the therapeutic straw. So that was good news. The other issue was that while she munched meltables like Puffs, she was swallowing other solid foods whole. So the recommendations were to continue with the straw drinking and to work on chewing.
I’ll back up and say that at this point we have randomly tried various foods. There are some- like taffy, steak, deli meats that we instinctually knew not to try but others like cubed bits of apple or small bites of a chip and fruits that we have tried. Sometimes she’s gagged and thrown up and other times it’s just slipped on down. Sara pointed out with things like wet, slippery noodles and pieces of fruit that the Quail would briefly suck on the piece before swallowing it whole. She still has difficulty with tongue lateralization and would flip the piece of food over in her mouth with her tongue rather than moving it back and forth. So we have an approved list of foods. I had typed up all of the ones she eats routinely before we went in. And we now are clear to not vary her diet for the immediate future from these items so we don’t endanger her.
Her biting has greatly improved, but is still pretty weak on her right side. So the best exercise for that- is chewing! Which the Quail is happy to assist with. We now will offer bite-size pieces of about a 1/4-inch to either molar, with double the offerings to the right or weaker side to give it a bit more of a work out.
We’re holding off on teaching her to spoon feed and restricting her independent feeding now too. Not because she isn’t capable of learning this. She really likes to feed herself and is happy to have you show her how to use a spoon hand over hand. But remember that temper I mentioned before? Well when she doesn’t like something she is a pistol. We want to preserve her willingness to let us in her mouth as long as possible. Sara felt confident that at some point in the near future, the Quail would most likely insist on feeding herself and at that point how frequently she lets us in her mouth for exercise and safety precautions would greatly diminish.
I felt a little sad at this change, not that I think the Quail will mind at all. She’s all for a personal feeder. But it did feel like going backwards in her progress. That being said, mealtimes have been extremely nerve-wracking for the last few months as we have watched her squirrel away food in her little cheeks and watched the morsels make a home just under the roof of her mouth as she struggles between trying to clear the food from her mouth and wanting to simultaneously stuff the food in her mouth as fast as she can get to it. So ultimately I think the slowing down is a wise and safe choice. She’ll get to independent feeding soon enough. It’s important she learn how to eat safely and build up her strength.
The other issue that felt like a step back was that for the next month we are going to thin out her purees and she will drink the main portion of her meal after she’s had chompers training with the table food. When we used the spoon to feed her she would push her tongue out in eagerness to get to the food and it would become a struggle to get her to use her lip to take the food off the spoon. In essence the spoon was encouraging tongue protrusion and undermining the work we had been doing with the straw and syringes on tongue retraction. So it’s smoothies and protein shakes for a while for this girl!
She did good with her Ellie Jiggler while we were there- which was surprising. She consistently bites the ear of poor Ellie at home. But with Sara’s practiced hand we were able to elicit one time. Sara felt that if she can do it then we work on it. But at the point in which we struggle with her to not bite it then we move on to another activity. She now will use the red and yellow chewy tubes for biting practice as well.
The other major change was that oral-motor exercises are now to be done at times other than mealtimes. In the last month or so the girl has been more than a little uncooperative as she salivates at the prospect of her meal coming and shoots withering looks and pteradactyl-like screams at our heads as we try to convince her that Ellie Jiggler is just as fun as a cheeseburger. Hopefully removing the exercises from mealtime will help make them and the mealtimes more pleasant all the way around.
“Every person, regardless of whatever different abilities they may have, can contribute, can be a source of joy, can beam with pride and love.” –Eunice Kennedy Shriver
Learn more about the first annual Eunice Kennedy Shriver (EKS) day coming up tomorrow; September 25, 2010 and what you do in your everyday life that helps illuminate and press on the vision, love, spirit and kindness of this woman. Her passion has furthered the acceptance of those with intellectual disabilies in our homes and communities.
Please visit the Special Olympics website to learn more about EKS day and what you can do and how you can spread the word.
Ordinary Afters... 