Using Our Strength to Lift Up
“The strength that we each have is to lift one another up, not to push people down.” Vice President Kamala Harris spoke these words to a young man with Down…
The Beautiful Thing About Offering Attention
October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month. According to the dictionary, awareness is “knowledge or perception of a situation or a fact.” Nearly two decades into this journey, I’m still raising…
The Problem with Calling Kamala Harris “Mentally Disabled”
Former president Donald Trump recently insulted President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris by calling them “mentally impaired” and then “mentally disabled.” (more from CNN here and FOX NEWS Radio…
Photo by Cloe Poisson
Down Syndrome Awareness Month 2024
Today is the beginning of Down Syndrome Awareness Month. In a world of distraction, I’m thinking about what happens when we pay attention to the beauty and hardship and possibility…
S8 E2 | What’s Normal? The Anthropology of Disability with Tom Pearson, PhD
Apple YouTube Spotify More! What does it mean to be human? Who counts as a human being and why? Anthropologist Tom Pearson has been asking these questions for a living…
Questions Every College Freshman Should Ask | Penny in Her Own Words
Questions from Penny that every college freshman needs to ask: ✏️Are there any students who know the campus, and is their role a mentor? ✏️Are there any school activities or…
Penny’s First Year of College Three Weeks In
After three weeks of college, here’s how Penny thinks it’s going (scroll down for her video)! How was your first week of college?!? The first week of college was both…
Changing the Social Imagination (one photo at a time)
The images that I saw of people with Down syndrome when our daughter Penny was born 18 years ago were largely black and white, grainy, medical images. They shaped an…
Our Story: Down Syndrome, Identity, and Love
I was scared when I found out our oldest daughter, Penny, had Down syndrome. My husband Peter and I were 28 years old, and we weren’t prepared to welcome a…
A New Way of Seeing Our Humanity
My first traditionally-published book, A Good and Perfect Gift, tells the story of our daughter Penny’s early years after her diagnosis of Down syndrome. Even more so, it tells the story of…
