Support Down Syndrome Research and Get Great Educational Products at the Same Time!

Down Syndrome awareness month

10/9/2014

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October is also Down syndrome awareness month. As a mother of a child with Down syndrome and a Barefoot Books Ambassador and Signing Time Instructor, this topic is near and dear to my heart.  Signing Time and Barefoot Books have played a huge roll in Ben's life.  Signing Time helped teach him to read before he turned three and Barefoot Books help keep him interested in reading.    To help give back, during the entire month of October 2014, I will donated a portion of my online and in person sales from ABC Barefoot Kids  and ABC Signing Kids to the LuMind Foundation for Down Syndrome Cognition Research (formerly DSRTF).

So why Down Syndrome research? In August 2014, our local Down syndrome support group, welcomed a special guest at our parent's night out event.    William C. Mobley is a Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurosciences at UCSD. He also serves as Executive Director of UCSD's Down Syndrome Center for Research and Treatment. and the Florence Riford Chair of Alzheimer Disease Research.   At this event Dr. Mobley shared with us some news of his fascinating research and let us know just how close we are to having a drug available to help prevent Alzheimer's not only in the Down syndrome population, but in the general population as well.  It helped me to realize just how much research is going on that will benefit our kids, and how much funding is needed to help keep this research on track. 
I chose the Lumind foundation because it supports lots of different research opportunities to benefit the Down syndrome community. 
The LuMind Foundation founders are committed to opening doors for people with Down syndrome. They established the LuMind Foundation in 2004 to identify and fund the most promising lines of cognitive development research.
So if you would like to join me in supporting Down syndrome research and could use some award winning children's books or Sign Language DVD's, Books, or Flashcards  to help fuel you child's passion for reading or to help them communicate before they are ready to speak, please use one of the following links to start shopping now:

ABC Signing Kids

ABC Barefoot Kids

Thank you for Supporting Ben's Brigade!

Thank you to everyone who helped our family raise over $1,600 This was my final year of chairing the event.  The Down Syndrome Walk has grown significantly over the last 4 years that I have been involved.  I am proud to be part of a group of parents who worked together to grow the group to the organization it is today.  However, all the change and growth experience did not happen with out a lot of hard work, and I am ready to pass on my part of that job to others.  
Here are some photos showing the fun we had on Saturday.

Burden

 

I would not change Ben for the world.  But I would change the world for him.   

I made this poster quite a while ago, could not decide if I should post it or not.  

Honestly we have been lucky and have been blessed to have a wonderful caring and supportive community in our small town in Nebraska.  We have had very few incidents of inappropriate behavior or language used and most have occurred when we have traveled to one of the bigger cities around us.  I have not doubt that Ben will blaze his own trail and will show us all that individuals with 

Down syndrome can accomplish many things.

Happy Down Syndrome Awareness Month!

Ben's Brigade 2012

This weekend was our local awareness walk. This was my first year co-chairing the event and the day started at 6:45 am and the temperature was at 26 degrees heading for a high of 50. But that is how the weather is in Nebraska. 80 one day and freezing the next. Unfortunately we got the freezing day. But at least the sun was out and the wind was not blowing, so it did not feel that bad.
Other than the weather and some unexpected construction, the event went pretty smoothly.

 A huge thank you to everyone who donated, volunteered, or walked at the event. Ben's brigade raised over $2,000 dollars and we had around 50 walkers. It was a great day and we appreciate all the support we received from family and friends.

 We are thankful to everyone who helped make the walk a huge success !

Times Square Video

October is Down syndrome awareness month. While many bloggers are doing a 31 for 21 blog challenge, I am already a day late and am pretty sure I would fail miserably. However, I do hope to provide more information about Down syndrome this month and will try to post as much as I can. To start I would like to share the video that played in Times Square last month featuring individuals with Down syndrome at the National Buddy Walk. Ben is near the end at the 14:36 mark if you want to fast forward. However, I encourage everyone to watch as much of the video that you can. You might just learn some facts along the way and see some amazing photos.

Step Up for Down Syndrome Walk

Yesterday was the 9th Annual Down Syndrome Awareness Walk in Lincoln.  Between Ben's Brigade and the Elmwood Murdock School Team, we had 45 walkers which was awesome!  The Elmwood Murdock School Team got second place and a trophy for the school team with the most walkers.  Ben's Brigade also got a trophy for for collecting the second highest amount of donations.  In total we collected over $1600.  Which was well over our goal.  Next year we will need to set the bar higher and try to get more walkers and more donation. But no matter what we do, we know it will be a fun and heartwarming day!
Thanks to everyone who helped out by donating, walking or both!
The W Family.

Down Syndrome Awareness Month

Today starts the beginning of national Down syndrome awareness month. So I thought I would start with a few facts about Down syndrome.
-Down syndrome occurs when an individual has three, rather than two, copies of the 21st chromosome. This additional genetic material alters the course of development and causes the characteristics associated with Down syndrome.
-Down syndrome is the most commonly occurring chromosomal condition. One in every 733 babies is born with Down syndrome.
-There are more than 400,000 people living with Down syndrome in the United States.
Facts from the National Down Syndrome Society.