Penny in Her Own Words: Senior Project Presentation
Intellectual disability does not need to prevent young adults from learning. With support, encouragement, and room to make mistakes and grow from them, students like our daughter Penny, who has…
Penny in Her Own Words: Senior Prom
We’ve been talking about senior prom all year long, and I wasn’t sure whether the event itself would be a letdown after so much anticipation. But here’s what Penny, our…
Penny in Her Own Words: Senior Trip
Life for our 18-year-old with Down syndrome isn’t perfect, but it is good. Penny just spent three days with her class on their senior spring trip. I asked her to…
Penny in Her Own Words: What I Want You to Know About My Life
What does life for a 17-year-old with Down syndrome look like? In case you’re curious, I asked Penny a few questions about her life as we come to the close…
Penny in Her Own Words: Inclusion and High School Senior Project
What does inclusion look like for a senior with Down syndrome at our local public school? Here’s one example, in her own words, from an interview with Penny about her…
Penny in Her Own Words: Dear Parent, Congrats!
This summer at Camp PALS, Penny had a chance to write a letter to a new parent of a baby with Down syndrome as a part of PALS’ Congratulations Project.…
Penny in Her Own Words: What I Thought About Netflix’s Down for Love
October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month! To celebrate, Penny will take over my account once a week and share her thoughts about teenage life, having a job, school, and more,…
Finding Other Ways to Communicate…
“I call shotgun.” I remember these days, back when I squabbled with my sisters over who got to sit up front. Now we are reenacting the same conversations within my…
Why Go to Hope Heals Camp | Penny in Her Own Words
Years ago, I wrote a piece for the Huffington Post called “Missing Out on Beautiful.” It was prompted by my realization that it was really hard to capture Penny’s true…
Camp PALS and Belonging
Penny sent me a text on her first night of Camp PALS: “With my favorite girl at my favorite place.” The next day, the text read, “Best year ever.” Penny…
