The proud mothers of these beautiful girls have been asked to do a presentation on Down Syndrome at the Virginia General Federation of Women's Clubs state convention on August 15th. I would like to solicit the help of my blogger friends for part of my presentation. If you would, please leave me a comment regarding the following:If you had the opportunity to inform the general public about raising a child with Down Syndrome, what would you want them to know? What would you tell them about your life? Your child? Your experience? Any presumed misconceptions you would want to address?
Most of the women that we will be presenting to won't have much (or any) knowledge about Down Syndrome. My friend Pam and I want to use this opportunity not only to educate the women on facts, we want to stress that with our kids, the blessings far outweigh the hardships.
Your input would be greatly appreciated.
Hugs~
Linda
A friend and I had spoke about DS at a breastfeeding conference this spring. Even though it was supposed to be about breastfeeding a baby with DS, we received the most questions about prenatal testing and diagnosis. The 90% statistic shocked everyone. They were also interested in what to say/not say to a family that just received a diagnosis. We also sent them home with a ton of handouts. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteOh Lord, this could take awhile to write. Let's chat Thursday. LOL
ReplyDeleteI have a presentation that I would be glad to share if you want me to :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, I would ask them to ask ME questions. Any questions, nothing is off limits, and this very well might be their only chance to do this.
Also, ask everyone to tell you one thing they know about Down syndrome. Again, nothing is off limits. You will be surprised how much you can revolve an entire presentation just on those two things :)
And lastly, how you talk about your child, will communicate a lot of what life is like for you. How you view your child will come across through your words, and it will paint a picture in their minds, hopefully, a good one.
just e-mail me if you want me to pass this along :)
Oh, and show pictures! lots of pictures! Have them talk about how adorable our kids are! A picture says a thousand words :)
Oh, can you tell I LOVE doing this? :)
By presentation, I meant power point presentation, it is just general info on Ds, nothing fancy at all! you can even make your own!
ReplyDeleteI give presentations on this subject to Medical staff. If you are interested in more details, I'd be glad to chat with you on the phone. Just ping me by email and I'll send you my number. I am also the New Parent Coordinator for my DS assoc and I meet with new parents in our metro area. I just revamped some of our materials as well and would be glad to email them to you. Oh, I also give talks to churches and have materials for a Christian faith-based looks at special needs. Anyway, as you can tell, this is a subject I am passionate about. Just let me know if you want copies of anything.
ReplyDeleteI just sent you an email with a few of the things I've written for Changing Lives presentations. (Let me know if you don't receive it for some reason.) Real-life stories have so much impact on people who haven't had any exposure to Down syndrome. I think you will be amazed at the responses you get!
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