The Rest of the Style Story

Last week I posted about the gorgeous model in the Nordstrom catalog as well as the beautiful girl with the freckles.  Here is the rest of the story... 


Below is the blog entry by Dr. Brian Skotko, who is an incredible doctor in the world of Down syndrome-- seriously, some of the moms want to start a fan club.  When you read what he posted at http://childrenshospitalblog.org/mock-my-pants-not-my-sister/  I think you'll see why he is such  an incredible man, brother, doctor, advocate and educator. 

By the way-- this is how Joey feels about the joker over at GQ who wrote that "Boston suffers from a kind of Style Down Syndrome, where a little extra ends up ruining everything." (I re-fuse to type the joker's name). 

Mock my pants, not my sister

by CHILDRENS HOSPITAL BOSTON STAFF on JULY 18, 2011

The following was written by Brian Skotko , MD, MPP, a Physician at Children’s Hospital Boston’s Down Syndrome Program. It’s in response to a feature in GQ magazine that used insensitive language.

Brian Skotko and his sister, Kristin

On July 15, John B. Thompson of GQmagazine slammed Bostonians as the worst dressed in the nation.  Evidently, our beloved Beantown is actually a “bad-taste storm sewer” where all the worst fashion ideas come to “stagnate and putrefy.”  He further decries, “Boston suffers from a kind of Style Down Syndrome , where a little extra ends up ruining everything.”

Go ahead, GQ, and mock my blue whale-emblemed Nantucket-red pants. Laugh if you want at the loud argyles that I prefer to wear with my black suit. I don’t even care if you dismiss the sexy pink polka-dotted tie that I like to wear with my blue-checkered shirt in clinic. But, whatever you do, do not mess with my sister.

My sister, Kristin, has Down syndrome, and let me explain what “Style Down Syndrome” really is.  “Style Down Syndrome” is smiling when everyone else prefers to frown. It’s spending three summers, in sheer determination, learning to ride a bike because you want the freedom to be like everyone else. It’s singing tunes from Grease at the top of your lungs with your friends. It’s celebrating a third-place victory at a swim meet with as much gusto as the gold medalist.

Style Down Syndrome is strong-willed, persevering, and forgiving—because it has to be.

People with Down syndrome are ridiculed on a daily basis. Although not as obvious as GQ’s sport, children with Down syndrome do not always get invited to birthday parties just because they have Down syndrome. Young adults, freshly minted from high school, sometimes have trouble finding post-secondary opportunities. And, adults with Down syndrome are often the first to be fired when the economy tanks.

All of this comes at a time when people with Down syndrome are achieving previously unimagined successes. They are graduating, working, living and loving within our communities.  So, why do people underestimate their abilities?  It must be because they do not know someone with Down syndrome. Because, if they did, they would come to appreciate the life lessons that accompany their extra chromosome.

If my friends who are black were mocked, they would not take it. If my friends who are gay were slurred, they would not take it. My 400,000 fellow Americans with Down syndrome have been cheapened, and I will not take it. I invite GQ magazine to introduce its readers to real people with Down syndrome through the My Great Story campaign of the National Down Syndrome Society.

For more information on Dr. Skotko and Children’s Down Syndrome program please visit their Facebook page, where you’ll find a great invite to share your own child’s “Down syndrome style.” We’ve got tons of amazing pictures on there already, please join the fun!  To learn more about the many social media platforms Dr. Skotko’s post has resonated with, please click here.

IMPORTANT: New Healthcare Guidelines for Children With Down Syndrome


Before I sign off for the night-- I have to post a link to the new American Academy of Pediatrics Clinical Report-- Health Supervision for Children With Down Syndrome-


https://secure.kcdsg.org/files/content/AAP%20Healthcare%20Guidelines%20for%20Children%20with%20Down%20Syndrome.pdf

It is long and detailed and I've got my highlighter out because this little guy is worth reading every word.