How to Prepare for a Solo Flight with Down Syndrome: Advice from Families
How do you prepare for a solo flight with Down syndrome? When someone with Down syndrome flies independently for the first time, families often have a lot of questions: How…
Love, Guilt, and Care: A Sibling’s Disability Story with Brian Trapp
REIMAGINING THE GOOD LIFE PODCAST When a child grows up with a sibling with a disability, what defines their childhood? Author Brian Trapp reflects on life with his twin brother…
Who Belongs? Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Nazi Germany, and the Meaning of Human Dignity
In Nazi Germany, two very different answers emerged to the question: Who belongs? Brian Brock describes how one answer took shape at the Bethel sanatorium, which Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German…
More Than a Summer Job: Employment for People with Down Syndrome
I never expected to walk into an ice cream shop and see Penny, our daughter who has Down syndrome, sitting behind the register, putting in orders. But there she was—on…
Who Counts as Human? with Brian Brock, PhD
REIMAGINING THE GOOD LIFE PODCAST S10 E8—Difference often exposes our tendency to rank people as “better” or “worse.” Theologian Brian Brock, PhD, joins Amy Julia Becker to explore a life…
2024 • By Cloe Poisson
Rejection and the Voice of Love: Announcing Everyone Matters
One of the things that comes with being a writer is rejection. Earlier this spring, I received another rejection for an essay I had written, alongside a series of polite…
Image by Ant Armada from Pexels
Advice for Penny’s First Solo Flight: A Network of Care in the Skies
Our daughter Penny is 20 years old and has Down syndrome. I cannot believe the outpouring of support, encouragement, and advice we received from far and wide—including multiple Delta executives…
2015
Penny in Fourth Grade: What Inclusion Teaches Us About Disability, Education, and Belonging
When she was in fourth grade, Penny was supposed to do a project on a “big question.” She decided to learn about Down syndrome. Later, after she made her presentation,…
Photo credit: Hannah Cohen
Who Gets to Tell the Story? Disability, Hollywood, and Family with Craig Thomas
REIMAGINING THE GOOD LIFE PODCAST S10 E6—Is disability a tragedy to overcome, a burden to bear, an inspirational lesson for everyone else? Or is there a different story to tell,…
2024
Taking the Next Step: Preparing for Penny’s First Solo Flight
I just got off the phone with Delta Airlines. I explained that Penny—our 20-year-old daughter with Down syndrome—will be flying on her own for the first time this summer. We…
