A. Our son’s Aussie is the dam of the program puppies. For our son with Down Syndrome and the rest of our family, she is the perfect fit. Our son handles each of the puppies every day. By observing the puppies with our son, we hand pick the puppies specifically suited for children with special needs.

Q. Are the puppies AKC registered?

A. No. The mother’s parents are a pair of Aussies with no papers. We selected her solely on the basis of temperament and sensitivity. She has a keen sense for our son’s needs and is eager to please. Of course, our son loves her to pieces, and that helps. One of our Aussies self-appointed duties in life is to help our son unwind after his school day. She is there to greet him as soon as he gets home. It is not uncommon for him to spend 30 minutes just loving his dog at the end of his day.

Q. Are the puppies raised in a kennel?

A. No. The puppies are handled frequently throughout the day and are thoroughly ready to join a new family with a special needs child when they leave here.

Q. Do the puppies have special environmental needs?

A. All dogs need plenty of exercise and mental stimulation, and these are no exception. These puppies can thrive in any climate. Our own Aussie grows a heavy winter coat, sheds moisture easily and has no problem whatsoever with winter or summer weather.

Q. Which homes qualify for the ASAWAY Puppy Program?

A. Only dog-friendly homes with a child with special needs, such as Autism, Down Syndrome or significant speech or hearing delays qualify.

Q. Do you train the puppies?

A. Yes and no. Our son handles each puppy every day. You will receive a special-needs-child-friendly puppy that will be easy to incorporate into your own dog-friendly home.

Q.  How do I get more information or place my child on a waiting list for one of these puppies?

A.   Click here for more information or to contact us about placing your child on the waiting list.

class221.com Quilt & Share Project: Our passion at class221 is teaching people with Down Syndrome and other special needs to make small quilts, table toppers, pillows and wall quilts. Two ways to get involved:

1. You can start teaching special quilters in your own community. The introductory class will focus on developing pre-quilting skills. Intermediate and advanced classes will range from quilting pillows, 20″ table toppers, 40″ crib quilts, through 60″ square throws. (contact Quilt & Share Project)

2. You can organize a local Quilt & Share Benefit Auction to raise funds for your local Down Syndrome or other special needs advocacy group. Auction items are donated by special quilters or patrons and friends of the local chapter. (email for more information)

I am Meredith Martin, a 24 year old self advocate from the small Northeast Nebraska community of Neligh I attended elementary and high school here and graduated with the Class of 2000. After graduation, as my friends were heading off to college, I knew I wanted to go somewhere, too. So, I left my parents home and moved in to my own apartment. Although I did not have a roommate or even a pet, I did enjoy my new feeling of independence (once my cable TV was connected).

 When I was in second grade I decided that I wanted to become a nurse. Although I have not met that dream yet, I am working at our hospital as an office aid. Some days I do get to help the nurses out on the floor or assist in cardiac rehab. Those are my best days at work. I also work two other part time jobs. One is at our grocery store and the other is at an assisted living facility. I am happiest when I am busy and out and about in the community.

 I have not given up on my dream to be a nurse.

 One goal that I have had since I was about four was to get a drivers license. Once I moved into my apartment, I hated to have to keep calling my parents for rides to work, so I hired a driving instructor. I soon had my drivers license and a whole new feeling of independence!

 I am active in my church and community. I enjoy kickboxing, Pilates and I walk and ride my bike a lot. I am always ready for a shopping trip or a chance to do lunch with friends. Dancing is a passion, so NDSC conventions are a real treat since there are no discos in my town. I love to fish and spend time boating with my family. One of the things that has shocked my mom the most is how I have started to enjoy cooking and trying new recipes since leaving home. I do invite my parents over often for an evening meal.

 I have so enjoyed attending the NDSC conventions through the years. I have met so many wonderful people who have inspired me to work even harder, to continue to dream and set new goals. At the 2006 convention I was elected to the NDSC Board as a self advocate. That was an exciting moment. I am enjoying having an active part with this fine group of people. I feel we have a real message to share and I will work to be a positive force in getting out the encouraging news that we have about Down syndrome.

 My S.T.A.R. philosophy is one that has served me pretty well so far: S–Surround yourself with positive supportive people; T–Teach others about your disability (or abilities); A–Always advocate for yourself and others; R–Reach for your North Star!

My name is Christi Hockel. This Christmas I will turn 28 years old. I have lived all of my life in Walnut Creek, California. I am a courtesy clerk at Safeway where I like to talk with the customers. I live in my own studio apartment which is attached to my family home. I am known around here as “Auntie Christi” because I love my 23 nieces and nephews.

I graduated from Northgate High School with a diploma in 2000. I learned to drive and have a license. I go to Diablo Valley College, where I have taken lots of dance and drama classes (along with P.E. classes, Spanish, Music Literature, Sign Language, and Voice & Diction). My GPA is 3.9. For two semesters, I was a teacher’s assistant in the beginning drama class. I love to perform and I keep working on my monologue!

I have taken piano lessons, singing lessons, and sewing lessons. I know how to cook lots of things. Right now, I am working on losing weight! I love to draw and make things with beads. I watch television a lot. I like to watch movies, sports, and old shows. I go bowling with my friends once a week, and volunteer at the hospital for almost 600 hours. I have a boyfriend who lives in Texas, and we spend a lot of time on the phone, and flying back and forth for visits.

I was a Board member of the NDSC from 2003-2006. Now, another door opened for me. I get to be on the Self-Advocate Council and talk with people with many different ideas.

Carrie is a thirty-year old yound adult with Down Syndrome from upstate New York. She radiates joy and warmth when you meet her. This trait has been evident ever since she was a hypotonic infant with a wobbly head!

 Carrie is presently in a NYS Self - Determination transition plan, living in Rome, NY with her husband. She is married to Sujeet Desai. They were married this past July in two lovely ceremonies, one Hindu and the second Christian and are settling into their new life together. They have staff support with their daily routines and are doing very well in this transition time.

 Carrie volunteers two days a week at the Upstate Cerebral Palsy Center working with toddlers. She received a two - degree (obtained in four and a years) from Herkimer County Community College as a teacher’s assistant in 2003. She also, volunteers at the Rome Memorial Hospital three days a week doing office work and helping out with the Tai Chi program on the geriatric floor. Phyiscal fitness is maintained by daily visits to the local YMCA plus two classes in Tae Kwon Do (maintaining black belt status), music, and dancing.

 She is a former board member of the National Down Syndrome Congress Board of Directors and now serves on the Self Advocacy Committee and the Youth and Adult Committee. She loves to share her experiences as a young adult with Down Syndrome. Carrie and her husband, Sujeet, will continue to present at conferences. They radiate their love for each other and also complement one another with her flair for speaking and his flair for music, making a wonderful lifelong team!

(Dayton Daily News)  Sami Hamdi could be a poster child for the way children with Down syndrome are embraced in American society.

He’s a popular pupil at an Englewood preschool serving special-needs children.

He’s the pampered pet of his family, a sunny-natured child who loves to sit on his mother’s lap or play peek-a-boo with his three sisters.

Sami’s mother, Fatiha Elgharib, knows that things would have been very different for her son in her native Morocco. “The truth is, if he had been born in my country, he would not be alive,” she said.

But now Elgharib and her husband must decide whether to separate him permanently from his mother, or send him home with her to Morocco.

Elgharib is facing deportation, having exhausted her legal avenues to remain in this country. She returned home to Englewood on Nov. 26 after spending five months in jail for failing to appear at a deportation hearing. “The notice was sent to an old address, and I never received it,” Elgharib said.

Jail has left the devout Muslim woman shaken. She is taking anti-anxiety medications after a lifetime of good health. But her greatest anxiety is what will happen to Sami and his thoroughly Americanized sisters if they are forced to return to their parents’ native country. In Morocco, Elgharib said, children with Down syndrome are derided as “Mongoloids” and offered few educational opportunities or medical care.

It’s equally hard to imagine how Sami would fare without his mother. When she was in jail, his language skills and potty training lapsed.

However you feel about immigration, here’s the truth: Children are paying for the actions of their parents. Sami is a 5-year-old American citizen with Down syndrome. He is free to stay in this country.

Nov. 20, 2007 (KGO) — A Sunnyvale man is celebrating his induction into the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame. He joins some big names such as Brian Boitano and Mark Spitz - athletes you might not immediately associate him with.

Those athletes have nothing on Mike Bailey. He competes in six to eight sports a year. He also has Down syndrome. This Special Olympian has not let it slow him down one bit.

It may not have seemed like the path to the hall of fame — but a little tri-cycle race was the beginning of it all — and 20 years later — Mike Bailey is just as dedicated to the Special Olympics as he was as a 7-year-old boy.

“I like basketball, bowling, bocce ball and power lifting,” said Mike Bailey, SJ Sports Hall of Fame inductee.

Mike has won more medals and ribbons than he and his family can count. But now he has an award that stands out among them all — a spot in the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame.

“We felt very proud. He has put a lot of effort into it and it’s been a great organization and it’s very special to get selected,” said David Bailey, father.

The selection committee was impressed by how many years Mike has dedicated to the Special Olympics - and how he uses it to inspire others. Mike often gives speeches about his experiences to generate support for the athletes.

“Let me win - if I cannot win let me find joy in the attempt,” said Mike Bailey.

Mike was diagnosed with Down syndrome when he was 4 weeks old. An elementary school teacher suggested the Special Olympics - and Mike was hooked. His parents were thrilled to see him physically challenged as well as meeting new friends.

“They have a drive. They want to win. Anybody who thinks they don’t know the difference if they win or lose or lose a competition. He’s very aware and they all want to win that gold medal,” said David Bailey.

Mike also keeps busy with a karate class at De Anza College. His instructor wasn’t surprised at all to hear his student was inducted in the hall of fame.

“He’s always happy. I wish I had more students as enthusiastic as Mike is - he always loves to be here,” said Pete Rabbitt, Karate instructor.

Mike also has a job at Loeman’s department store — and a girlfriend, Melissa, who he likes to go to the movies with. But he’ll always find time for the Special Olympics.

“I love Special Olympics,” said Mike Bailey.

Mike has no plans of slowing down. Special Olympians are allowed to compete as long as they like. And Mike says he wants some more medals.

(The Guardian) Martha MacLean hopes to teach her child with Down syndrome to read using a new program developed by two women from Ontario.

MacLean is co-chair of the P.E.I. Down Syndrome Support Group.

Her daughter, Margaret, will be six in December. Because she was born with severe heart defects, Margaret’s development has been delayed.

MacLean said she welcomed the opportunity to have the program’s founders, Denise MacDonald and Karen Evershed, present a workshop at Murphy’s Community Centre in Charlottetown Saturday.

“As a parent of a child with special needs, you always think you should be doing more,” she said. “I like the whole idea that (the program is) set out from day

to day. I don’t expect (Margaret) to turn around and be this amazing reader, but maybe she will be. I’m going to try.”

MacDonald said she and Evershed wanted to develop a program that would make a difference in the world.

The concept of the program, called Reading Out of the Box, is to teach written words in a clear, precise and repetitive manner, said MacDonald, who has a background in psychology and education.

“A huge percentage of children born with (learning difficulties) are visual learners, and as so, it’s important for them to see the whole word first,” she said.

“What a visual learner really needs is to have a visual reference of what that word represents.”

The kit comes with a number of flash cards with words written on them in big, bright red letters.

The program takes 14 months. Children begin by learning single words and eventually work their way up to sentences.

It also comes with a schedule for parents to follow so they aren’t overwhelmed and so they can stay on track and continue to help their children’s reading skills improve, MacDonald said.

“The program says, ‘Here’s how to teach your children to read,’ ” she said. “You don’t have to have a university degree, you don’t need to be a teacher. Everything that you need is in that box and it will walk you through it. It’s a fool-proof system.”

Evershed used a similar flash-card approach 25 years ago to teach her daughter, who has Down syndrome, to read.

She’s now 26 years old and can read very well, Evershed said.

“She’s an amazing writer. She volunteers at our local school too and helps students with reading difficulties.”

The two Peterborough, Ont., women took what worked with Evershed’s approach and coupled it with current research in the field to create their program.

MacDonald said the visual words shown to the children are words that can be associated to something, like a colour or a name.

“It’s like planting a seed in their memory and they can retrieve that information when you show them a word.”

Reading Out of the Box has been available for two years, and so far the feedback has been “phenomenal,” she said.

“Parents love it, they can’t get enough. We’ve had people come to our workshops and say this has been life changing. They say it’s given them hope.”

For more information about Reading Out of the Box, check out www.outofthe
boxreading.com

To ensure complete bonding, each family trains their own pup. For families that have never had a dog, we recommend you obtain one of many commercially available dog  training videos. In particular, we like Teaching Basic Manners (Volume One), which is produced by the founder of “The Loved Dog”, Tamar Geller, a renowned life coach for dogs and their people. This video, while designed for a general audience, will help your special child become a vital member of the pup’s training team, even in the early stages before the pup learns a set of manners.

Children with Down Syndrome are remarkably caring by nature. These children have a deep well of love to draw from. The pups that qualify for our program are suited to provide not only well-behaved companionship, but also to serve as faithful life-long recipients of that love. Applicant families for our program must have a child with Down Syndrome or significant speech impairments.

Our son’s Aussie is the dam for the puppies in our program.  For our son and our family, she is the best dog ever.  Our son, who is a 10-year-old with Down Syndrome, handles each puppy daily.  From observing each puppy with him, we select the puppies for our program.  At present, we have a 6-month waiting list, and growing. Request additional information by email. Be sure to include “Asaway Puppy Program” in the subject line.

Other options for children with other disabilities include the Monroe, Alabama, program featured below. There they have trained dogs for police work, hospice care and seizure alert.

The Times Plus (MONROE) — They’re more than just pets — they’re professionals. From the more common service dogs, like mobility assistance dogs for the physically handicapped, guide dogs for the blind and hearing dogs for the hearing impaired, to therapy dogs who provide the ill and elderly with cheer and entertainment, to search and rescue dogs, to herding and hunting dogs, to guard and police dogs — these canines are specially trained to act as their handlers’ eyes, ears and hands.When they slip into their uniforms, they transform from playful pet to professional pooch. And they mean business.

They tell us our son has significant communication deficits. Maybe so, but I can tell you that he communicates more clearly than I do. He leaves no room for misunderstanding. In fact, he is one of the most expressive people I know.

They tell us our son has Down Syndrome and that we have to learn to accept that he will never be normal. That may be the case, but I can tell you that I don’t have Down Syndrome and I will never be normal, either. I don’t even want him to be normal. He has another thing you can’t teach, too: brotherly love.

I can see his palmar crease. I can even see a characteristic T-21 facial expression at times. But I can tell you that he is a lot like us and our ancestors. First he is our son with our genes and our environmental influences. On top of that he has some sort of chromosomal defect.

Our son attends the local, public elementary school. The staff there is very nice to him. The education specialists expect very little out of him. We have taught him math, reading, and his other academics at home. We have done the same with our other five children who do not have Down Syndrome. As with our other children, we send him to school primarily for socialization.

When I take him on a hike, I know he has his limitations, but I expect him to hold up his end of the bargain. I refuse to pamper him. We all have our limitations. When he sits down to do his studies, he is expected to work. There is a time for work and a time for play, and he knows the difference. At Sunday school and youth group, he doesn’t get any special treatment. There isn’t an aide coddling him along. At school, however, he is treated like a cute little dimwit.

But that is the way of life, and it’s not necessarily our local elementary school’s fault. If it was, our story wouldn’t be so very familiar to our readers who have children like him. We don’t exactly expect to find a school where things will be any different for him, but we hope to. If you are reading this and you know of any school, public or private, anywhere in the U.S. where he might be seen to have the potential we know he has; a school where much would be expected of him and where his potential might be developed to the maximum, we would love to have your comments. Feel free to use the comment section here or email us directly. If, on the other hand, you would like to provide your own Georgia school a little feedback, click here.