A Couple of Things

With the change of seasons here and winter just around the corner, I wanted to share two products that were great for those fall and winter colds during Brennan's first couple of years. The first is a "NoseFrida." When I heard about it, I thought to myself that I would NEVER buy or use something like that. Read the description and you'll see why. But, after several moms of kids with Down syndrome raved about it, I figured I'd give it a try. And I was SO happy that I did. It helped clear out his tiny little nose in a way that nothing else could.

The second is an Exergen Temporal Scanner. I wish I would have had this when my older kids were little. It is by far the easiest way to take a child's temperature. I use it for all four of my kids, but its especially great for little ones who may not like the under the arm method. You can even check their temperature when they're sleeping if you need to.

New Down Syndrome Studies

Yesterday, my sister forwarded an article to me about finding from recent studies that were conducted regarding Down syndrome. After reading the article, I responded to my sister by saying that I wish the pediatrician that told us about Brennan's diagnosis would have been able to tell us the finding from this report instead of the doom and gloom he presented to us. The studies found that "the vast majority of parents said they have a more positive outlook on life because of their child with Down syndrome. And, nearly 90 percent of siblings indicated that they feel like they are better people because of their brother or sister with the developmental disability." Additionally, "nearly all of the survey respondents with Down syndrome said they were happy with their lives, themselves and their appearance. Only 4 percent said they felt sad about their life." And I would say, from my experience so far, that this is truly the case. When I've attended the National Down Syndrome Congress conventions, the thousands of attendees are not getting together to boo-hoo about their lives, but rather to celebrate.

The studies are being printed in the American Journal of Medical Genetics. My hope is that geneticists, pediatricians and obstetricians will include the findings from these studies to parents who are just learning that their child has Down syndrome, offering a real-life and not just medical view of the diagnosis.

How's Your News?

"How's Your News" was a show that aired on MTV a couple of years ago. It was a documentary style news show hosted by people with disabilities which showed them interviewing various celebrities and politicians. If you haven't seen it before, you can find some of the episodes here. I honestly smiled my way though each episode. One of my favorite reporters was Jeremy Vest. Jeremy seemed like the most genuine person I had ever seen who was always both honest and sincere. Recently, the How's Your News team posted an article about him on facebook and I quickly followed the link to read it. The article was written by Jeremy's father who described Jeremy exactly as I had seen him on the show. One line that stood out to me was when he was describing his sons diagnosis - he said, " Jeremy has Williams Syndrome which causes some cognitive difficulties, but at the same time imbues him with some splendid qualities and enormous talent." I just loved that description and think it applies to so many with special needs.
Happy Weekend!