I Volunteered At The Heart Of Illinois Down Syndrome

The York Area Down Syndrome Association (YADSA) is an association that supports families whose children have Down Syndrome. YADSA has partnered with York College of Pennsylvania for an incredible event where I had to opportunity to work with a student with Down Syndrome over two events. I worked with Kira, she is a high school student that is shy at first, but quickly comes out of her shell. She is a silly and outgoing person, who loves cheerleading, science, and Disneyworld.

Among siblings 88 percent are convinced that they are better people because of their brother or sister with down syndrome. People who haven’t experienced working with or living with a disabled person don’t understand the impact it has on your life and what you consider to be normal when it comes to a daily routine. With that said the person in my life who has shaped me to be the person I am today is my sister, Madison. Madison Ness is sixteen years old with down syndrome and attends Hamilton High School in the special education classes. She is short with dark brown hair making her not that noticeable but if you get a chance to meet her you will see that she makes quite an impact on everyone who crosses her path and that she spends every waking

Jane O'Brien: (In a comforting voice) First, calm down, Miss Anderson. I know it’s hard for you to hear your baby has Down syndrome but please take a deep breath, I will explain everything you need to know. First of all, Down Syndrome is a genetic disorder that involves birth defects, intellectual disabilities, and characteristic facial features. Additionally, it often involves heart defects, visual and hearing impairments, and other health problems. if you thinking what is genetic disorder is. Genetic disorder is altered or faulty gene or set of genes. The four broad groups of genetic disorders are single gene disorders, chromosome abnormalities, mitochondrial

As a child, Down syndrome was a part of my everyday life. I was watched after every day for the first ten years of my life by a women who was also looking after her sister who had Down syndrome. To me it was nothing unusual. It wasn’t until about eighth grade that I realized that to other people it wasn’t normal, it had a negative connotation. Growing up around a person who has Down syndrome made me see things differently than others. Once I realized not everyone else’s perspectives were the same as mine I became really aware of how others treated and reacted to people with Down syndrome. Its years later and I came across a story told by a women named Bethany Van Delft about Down syndrome.

I have been a part of Best Buddies here at WKU since my first semester of college. Best Buddies is an organization that pairs college students with people who have intellectual and developmental disabilities. Best Buddies gives people with IDD the opportunity to get involved with things happening on campus. It also allows them to build different friendships. Through Best Buddies, I have had the opportunity to start volunteering my time at the Buddy House. The Buddy House is a place where people with Down syndrome can go to hang out with their friends. The Buddy House offers classes for all ages. They have literacy classes for elementary and middle grade students, adult skills classes, fitness for teens and adults, Zumba classes, and much more.

In ninth grade, my mother suggested that I volunteer with peers at my high school who are special needs. She thought it would be good for me to meet other people my age who have their unique struggles in school, much like myself. I protested originally, but little did I know I would love volunteering with my peers, regardless of their disability. During this time, I signed up to volunteer with a local organization called Buddy Ball. At Buddy Ball, I had the opportunity to teach children with disabilities ages five through twenty-one baseball. When I volunteered with my peers, I mainly saw high schoolers with severe autism, intellectual disabilities, and emotional disturbances, whereas with Buddy Ball most of the participants had severe autism, intellectual disability, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, epilepsy, or a multiple of disabilities. Both of these experiences allowed me to gain knowledge of a variety of special

Due to advances in medical technology, individuals with Down syndrome are living longer than ever before. In 1910, children with Down syndrome were expected to survive to age nine. With the discovery of antibiotics, the average survival age increased to 19 or 20. Now, with recent advancements in clinical treatment, most particularly corrective heart surgeries, as many

Do you have a family member with Down syndrome? Neither did Esther Gomez-Nieto, until 15 years ago when her grandson Alexander was born. In fact, she knew very little about Down syndrome at all. Years ago when Esther emigrated from Cuba, she had no idea the eventual path her life would take. She got married, had kids, then returned to school later in life, and became an educator and a grandmother. However, her most significant contribution to the world began when she founded Alexander’s Angels, Inc. in 2007, an organization for Down syndrome advocacy, service, and research.

I volunteered at the Hubbard House, which is a home away from home for people who have family in the hospital or are being treated by the hospital and don’t want to live there, as the hospital is a 5 minute bus ride away. Our job was to serve the residents who were currently housed there, a hot homemade spaghetti and meatballs meal with garlic bread and assorted desserts. We served them as if it were a restaurant and brought smiles to their faces.

A home cooked meal was purchased and prepared by the Amice and Zeta, Youth other family members set up and cleanup. It was rewarding to talk with the families and the crisis’s they were going through and to be able to encourage them. They were very grateful of a home cooked meal and begged us to come back the next week.

The last week of our time here we all had the opportunity to go down to the soup kitchen for a few hours to help serve the guests. When we arrived, Randy, the co-director of Scott who is the founder, gave us a brief tour of the building and explained to us how the soup kitchen was founded. Randy also shared with us the multiple food donors, such as St.Ritas, the West Ohio Food Bank, and individuals from the community and surrounding areas. Some of the people who come to the Soup Kitchen see it as a sanctuary for spiritual care. After he explained the basic concepts of the organization to us, we divided and each had different tasks. Ali and I served drinks while Angel, Grace, and Gage prepared the food. Jesus served homemade ice cream to the

Part of the calling of every Christian is to “live out the reality of God’s healing action of restoring brokenness within people and communities” (Pasley, para. 32). A life with Jesus is a life of joy and restoration despite and pain or difficulty we go through in this life. Supporting others whose children have Down syndrome, providing resources within the community to help raise children with Down syndrome, and treating those with Down syndrome with dignity and care are all things that a Christian worldview

I. Attention Getter: Approximately one in every 700 babies in the United States is born with Down syndrome, that makes approximately 6000 babies born each year with Down syndrome. Although physical and cognitive traits are affected by this genetic disorder, individuals can attend school, work, participate in decisions that affect them, have meaningful relationships, vote and contribute to society in many wonderful ways. II. Thesis: Down syndrome is the most common genetic disorder in the United States and it accounts for much of the learning disabilities found in children today (Staff 2014).

Parenting a child with Down syndrome can be as rewarding as parenting a child without disability. Consideration also needs to be given to the cost of raising a child with Down syndrome. The National Down Syndrome Society state children with Down syndrome are now living longer lives and may require specialized education, increased medical costs due to heart abnormalities, and long term physical rehabilitation due to the generalized weaknesses related to weak muscle tone. There is a substantial cost factor to consider when raising a child with Down

I was honored to partner with two local non-profits in our community to include The San Antonio Food Bank and Children’s Hunger Fund. My primary roles were to work collectively with other volunteers to fight hunger by delivering nutritious food to individuals and families in need. I helped package food and checked items for freshness. To ensure food was fresh I closely inventoried food for expiration dates, spoiled items and opened packages. Once food was inventoried, I then assisted with packaging items into boxes for delivery to those in need. I volunteered at the San Antonio Food Bank from May/19/2016 to Dec/1/2016 and the Children’s Hunger Fund for the month of April/2016.