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I grew up two houses down from a group home for independent adults with Down Syndrome. I was a chubby kid with anxiety on the spectrum and my dad was never around. The residents of the home took me under their wing, taught me to ride a bike, went rock hunting with me, and always came over and asked if I could come out and play kickball. One of my favorite early memories is these two big gentle men running alongside my bike shouting encouragement and keeping me steady. They must’ve been in their 50s and I was 6. Those guys were pure joy.
Oh you guys… thank you so much for appreciating this. I only lived in that house from 5-10. My parents divorced. I don’t even remember their names, but I was so lucky to have had them looking out for me.
One of my mom’s best friends had a couple of siblings with Down Syndrome (big Irish Catholic family) and thankfully she wasn’t weirded out when a bunch of adults saw me in the driveway trying to ride a bike and came over to help. They made sure I had knee pads and elbow pads and my helmet and good sturdy sneakers and those fingerless padded hand gloves too. Great people.
Growing up, I knew I a guy that had a mobile meat smoker. The front part could be converted to an approved selling area but he would drive down the highway smoking meat. And he had his “partner in crime, which was a man with Downs named Ricky.
Now I don’t know where Ricky came from. He didn’t like to talk about it. But he was really in to the whole smoked meat process. I think it made sense; there were rules, you do a or b and if x happens, you do y.
But I was a kid being voluntold and then paid slyly on the backend. What I do remember was being “in charge” of Ricky for an afternoon.
We stopped and complimented almost anyone we saw. At first it was me, then him, and then there was a line to get complimented, because Ricky gave the best compliments. Like stare into your soul and drop the compliment you needed. Then we moved to rides and treats. I found faith in humanity when operators were both cool with being cautious but also happy to give him a little grief. We did the Zipper twice before I bowed out, but Ricky kept getting in line, he was a huge hype man for the younger kids, and I remember him telling me “I don’t have to hoop and holler, but if I’m more dramatic, they don’t have to be afraid.”
He wanted to be a part of the work, and he took it seriously, but he also wanted to be a part of people. I remember he found a lost kid and just sat down. People got frustrated and he was like “cool, you’re tripping over me, can you ask someone to announce a lost kid?” He had lots of busy work in his pockets; knots to tie and undo, some needle and thread, a disappearing coin.
He needed care in the long term, on the daily, but he was incredible on the day.
Down Syndrome folks are some of the very sweetest people on earth.
I never meant to offend or upset anyone I know two Down syndrome children. And they are very happy and very sweet. And can only base my opinion on those I actually know.
They really are. At my highschool there was a very well known, outgoing person with down syndrome named Jared. Everybody loved him. He wore Hawaiian shirts and was legitimately the most outgoing person in school. Once somebody gave him shit and pretty much the entire hall ganged up on the dude. He got to graduate in my class, and we cheered as loud as we possibly could when he walked.
When I was teaching, we had a young man with down syndrome who took his disabled girlfriend to prom. They were pretty much unanimously voted prom king and queen and the crowd got quite rowdy in a loving way when they arrived and when they won. All the football players had him "sign" their footballs and stuff. We found out from his parents that after he went to a transition program, some of the football players got together and delivered him birthday letters. Our school had its issues, but they were INCREDIBLY inclusive. I still cry knowing that young man has friends for life in such a dark world.
When I was in high school we had a small special ed class made predominantly of kids with down syndrome (like 4 out of 6 kids total). Every Friday morning they would run a "café" and sell all homemade cookies, brownies, muffins, and coffee and hot chocolate for shockingly cheap. They had the absolute BEST blueberry muffins and hot chocolate I've ever had in my life and I always paid double the price because it was absolutely worth that price and all the profit they made went towards equipment for their class and different adaptive tools for each student to keep as they needed. But the students from the class would fill the drinks and bag up the pastries and give your change back while the teachers just stood by to help when needed. They were always the sweetest people and the oldest boy, Jay, would always give you a specific compliment when he'd hand you your things. Like really specific things, like "Your hair is curly today instead of straight, it's really pretty!" Or "I like your sparkly gold makeup for the football game today!" Something really specific to every single person in line. It was amazing and the whole school loved them. At the pep rallies, they got their own introduction (they were always called "Super [Mascot]s" and would wear superhero outfits on game days) after the cheerleaders and the football team came in and the whole school just went nuts for them. It's genuinely one of my fondest high school memories and I STILL miss that café.
I know you probably don't realize this but that generalization is damaging. People with Down Syndrome are not inherently an empathetic mascot. What you see on the Internet is highlighted moments of individuals. Please stop thinking of people with DS in general as some separate joyful beings. Anyone that has someone close to them with Down Syndrome will tell you the same. These kinds of videos really upset me as it's purely influencer shit, like posting your kids, people with disabilities, all clout chasing.
Actually studies show they really are more empathetic. The reason there are so many anecdotal reports they are generally kind and loving is because it’s true. Not saying every single one, but for some reason it actually does seem like they are very kind
Just as it’s sloppy thinking to assume everyone with Down syndrome shares the same disposition, it’s sloppy thinking to assume everyone who posts family content is doing it for a cynical purpose.
Two things don’t have to be identical to share a common characteristic. Sloppy thinking is sloppy thinking. It’s even more stark when the complaint is misrepresenting the thought process of one group with generalization followed immediately by generalizing the thought process of another group.
They’re the same in those ways, and those seem to be the two main prongs of your comment.
Patrick, if you cannot see the difference between disparaging people that exploit non-consenting individuals for monetary gain, and generalizing people born with Down Syndrome, you might be thinking sloppy yourself.
284 people with Down syndrome, ages 12 – 52 (17% response)
• 99% happy with their lives
• 99% said that they love their families
• 97% liked who they are
• 96% liked how they look
• 86% indicated they could make friends easily
• 4% expressed sadness about their life
They didn’t use a control group of people without DS to compare values, but I would bet money that if you took a random sample of 284 people without DS, you would not find that 99% of them are happy with their lives, 96% like how they look, etc.
Obviously people with DS are not ALWAYS happy, but it is not wrong to say that they tend to be happy people
As someone that is close to this syndrome in many ways-this person is saying the truth and why the down votes? Probably bots or people who have zero clue what Down syndrome is like for adults with this DISABILITY.
If you experience empathy fatigue you should speak with a therapist about it. Some specialize in that field. Not trying to sound sarcastic just that this might be one of those situations.
My brother was born with Down Syndrome, he has since passed. He could be violent, sexual, depressed, tantrums, any and all emotions. He had many more bad days than good. I remember growing up and people saying "I thought they were meant to be happy," after he assaulted the bagger at the grocery store for taking "his" cookies and putting them in the bag. I miss him so much, as he was sweet and innocent too. I don't like these generalizations. Maybe I have my own stuff going on too, but I would never post a video of him good days or bad. Seems too close to a circus for me.
He is an amazing babysitter. Baby has 100% of his attention! Most neurotypical people would be multitasking and leaving the baby on a mat with some toys.
He’s so great when she’s in the bath, he sits there talking to her but examining the surrounding area while mom bathes her, and has a towel to wipe down the bathtub edge because he doesn’t want her to slip 🥹
I've been watching this guy on insta for a long time and he is the best, most gentle, caring uncle I've ever seen. He's such a sweetheart. Those kids are lucky to have him as an uncle ❤️
Imho this is sweet because it's always sweet and lovely to see an uncle caring for their niblings and investing time in them c: I don't think it really matters that he has DS and find it weird that people always need to point out when folks have DS
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I grew up two houses down from a group home for independent adults with Down Syndrome. I was a chubby kid with anxiety on the spectrum and my dad was never around. The residents of the home took me under their wing, taught me to ride a bike, went rock hunting with me, and always came over and asked if I could come out and play kickball. One of my favorite early memories is these two big gentle men running alongside my bike shouting encouragement and keeping me steady. They must’ve been in their 50s and I was 6. Those guys were pure joy.
This should be a movie!
My heart. I can't.
Crying 🥹🥹
Same !!! Dammit its a Saturday morning and im sitting here bawling. Im so glad you had those sweet souls as your guardian angels.
Oh you guys… thank you so much for appreciating this. I only lived in that house from 5-10. My parents divorced. I don’t even remember their names, but I was so lucky to have had them looking out for me. One of my mom’s best friends had a couple of siblings with Down Syndrome (big Irish Catholic family) and thankfully she wasn’t weirded out when a bunch of adults saw me in the driveway trying to ride a bike and came over to help. They made sure I had knee pads and elbow pads and my helmet and good sturdy sneakers and those fingerless padded hand gloves too. Great people.
Omg that’s beautiful 🥲
How beautiful and wholesome is that ❤️
That's so lovely.
He’s gonna be a great uncle. 🥺👍
Edit: I changed “finna” to “gonna” because I don’t know where my autocorrect got that from. I’ve never used that word in my life. 💀💀
I’m laughing so hard at your edit because I swear the same thing had happened to me before.
Your autocorrect finna use that word a lot more now though
NUH UH. 😭😭
Growing up, I knew I a guy that had a mobile meat smoker. The front part could be converted to an approved selling area but he would drive down the highway smoking meat. And he had his “partner in crime, which was a man with Downs named Ricky.
Now I don’t know where Ricky came from. He didn’t like to talk about it. But he was really in to the whole smoked meat process. I think it made sense; there were rules, you do a or b and if x happens, you do y.
But I was a kid being voluntold and then paid slyly on the backend. What I do remember was being “in charge” of Ricky for an afternoon.
We stopped and complimented almost anyone we saw. At first it was me, then him, and then there was a line to get complimented, because Ricky gave the best compliments. Like stare into your soul and drop the compliment you needed. Then we moved to rides and treats. I found faith in humanity when operators were both cool with being cautious but also happy to give him a little grief. We did the Zipper twice before I bowed out, but Ricky kept getting in line, he was a huge hype man for the younger kids, and I remember him telling me “I don’t have to hoop and holler, but if I’m more dramatic, they don’t have to be afraid.”
He wanted to be a part of the work, and he took it seriously, but he also wanted to be a part of people. I remember he found a lost kid and just sat down. People got frustrated and he was like “cool, you’re tripping over me, can you ask someone to announce a lost kid?” He had lots of busy work in his pockets; knots to tie and undo, some needle and thread, a disappearing coin.
He needed care in the long term, on the daily, but he was incredible on the day.
Whereee you get thaaat cheeeezeeee, Danny!!!!?
I'm not making them at night, DAD.... I'm making them at night
Down Syndrome folks are some of the very sweetest people on earth.
I never meant to offend or upset anyone I know two Down syndrome children. And they are very happy and very sweet. And can only base my opinion on those I actually know.
They really are. At my highschool there was a very well known, outgoing person with down syndrome named Jared. Everybody loved him. He wore Hawaiian shirts and was legitimately the most outgoing person in school. Once somebody gave him shit and pretty much the entire hall ganged up on the dude. He got to graduate in my class, and we cheered as loud as we possibly could when he walked.
When I was teaching, we had a young man with down syndrome who took his disabled girlfriend to prom. They were pretty much unanimously voted prom king and queen and the crowd got quite rowdy in a loving way when they arrived and when they won. All the football players had him "sign" their footballs and stuff. We found out from his parents that after he went to a transition program, some of the football players got together and delivered him birthday letters. Our school had its issues, but they were INCREDIBLY inclusive. I still cry knowing that young man has friends for life in such a dark world.
When I was in high school we had a small special ed class made predominantly of kids with down syndrome (like 4 out of 6 kids total). Every Friday morning they would run a "café" and sell all homemade cookies, brownies, muffins, and coffee and hot chocolate for shockingly cheap. They had the absolute BEST blueberry muffins and hot chocolate I've ever had in my life and I always paid double the price because it was absolutely worth that price and all the profit they made went towards equipment for their class and different adaptive tools for each student to keep as they needed. But the students from the class would fill the drinks and bag up the pastries and give your change back while the teachers just stood by to help when needed. They were always the sweetest people and the oldest boy, Jay, would always give you a specific compliment when he'd hand you your things. Like really specific things, like "Your hair is curly today instead of straight, it's really pretty!" Or "I like your sparkly gold makeup for the football game today!" Something really specific to every single person in line. It was amazing and the whole school loved them. At the pep rallies, they got their own introduction (they were always called "Super [Mascot]s" and would wear superhero outfits on game days) after the cheerleaders and the football team came in and the whole school just went nuts for them. It's genuinely one of my fondest high school memories and I STILL miss that café.
They are!!
I’ve never really met a Down syndrome person, but I’d like to
They most definetly are
I know you probably don't realize this but that generalization is damaging. People with Down Syndrome are not inherently an empathetic mascot. What you see on the Internet is highlighted moments of individuals. Please stop thinking of people with DS in general as some separate joyful beings. Anyone that has someone close to them with Down Syndrome will tell you the same. These kinds of videos really upset me as it's purely influencer shit, like posting your kids, people with disabilities, all clout chasing.
Actually studies show they really are more empathetic. The reason there are so many anecdotal reports they are generally kind and loving is because it’s true. Not saying every single one, but for some reason it actually does seem like they are very kind
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12635971/#:~:text=Results:%20Results%20indicated%20that%20compared%20to%20the,comfort%20in%20the%20form%20of%20prosocial%20responses.
https://adscresources.advocatehealth.com/social-sensitivity/#:~:text=People%20with%20Down%20syndrome%20are%20often%20described,even%20when%20they%20are%20not%20openly%20expressed.
https://texasrighttolife.com/what-the-world-can-learn-from-people-with-down-syndrome/#:~:text=According%20to%20a%202011%20study%20by%20Harvard%2Dtrained,with%20another%20genetic%20disorder%20or%20typical%20child
He dropped the pubmed source and all 🫡
Yeah I definitely don’t agree with the overall agenda behind the last source there, I’m pro-choice. But I agree with the message about people with DS.
I've met quite a few in my years and in my experience the ones that aren't usually have some kind of dual diagnosis, like down syndrome and autism.
Just as it’s sloppy thinking to assume everyone with Down syndrome shares the same disposition, it’s sloppy thinking to assume everyone who posts family content is doing it for a cynical purpose.
Yeah, that's not the same at all.
Two things don’t have to be identical to share a common characteristic. Sloppy thinking is sloppy thinking. It’s even more stark when the complaint is misrepresenting the thought process of one group with generalization followed immediately by generalizing the thought process of another group.
They’re the same in those ways, and those seem to be the two main prongs of your comment.
Yeah, the video could be to educate or even to paint people with DS in a more positive light. Could be … clout chasing.
We just don’t know
Patrick, if you cannot see the difference between disparaging people that exploit non-consenting individuals for monetary gain, and generalizing people born with Down Syndrome, you might be thinking sloppy yourself.
Jesus Christ. People post things on the internet. It's not that deep!
Really reflect on why this bothers you the way it does because you’re coming off real “virtue signaling”
Oh my god, you’re such a wet blanket. Sheesh.
Your username is as funny as this response.
Self-perceptions from People with Down Syndrome, https://pmc-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.ezproxy.bu.edu/articles/PMC3740159/
284 people with Down syndrome, ages 12 – 52 (17% response) • 99% happy with their lives • 99% said that they love their families • 97% liked who they are • 96% liked how they look • 86% indicated they could make friends easily • 4% expressed sadness about their life
They didn’t use a control group of people without DS to compare values, but I would bet money that if you took a random sample of 284 people without DS, you would not find that 99% of them are happy with their lives, 96% like how they look, etc.
Obviously people with DS are not ALWAYS happy, but it is not wrong to say that they tend to be happy people
As someone that is close to this syndrome in many ways-this person is saying the truth and why the down votes? Probably bots or people who have zero clue what Down syndrome is like for adults with this DISABILITY.
Thank you for taking the downvote hits to say this.
If you experience empathy fatigue you should speak with a therapist about it. Some specialize in that field. Not trying to sound sarcastic just that this might be one of those situations.
My aunt has it and I couldn't disagree more. She's never had a bad day.
My brother was born with Down Syndrome, he has since passed. He could be violent, sexual, depressed, tantrums, any and all emotions. He had many more bad days than good. I remember growing up and people saying "I thought they were meant to be happy," after he assaulted the bagger at the grocery store for taking "his" cookies and putting them in the bag. I miss him so much, as he was sweet and innocent too. I don't like these generalizations. Maybe I have my own stuff going on too, but I would never post a video of him good days or bad. Seems too close to a circus for me.
Awwww that's so sweet. He is a good uncle.
It's a little bonk, you're fine ❤️
Brothers are gonna brother ✊
What a sweet uncle ❤️❤️
And that soft voice too 🥹
He is an amazing babysitter. Baby has 100% of his attention! Most neurotypical people would be multitasking and leaving the baby on a mat with some toys.
He’s so great when she’s in the bath, he sits there talking to her but examining the surrounding area while mom bathes her, and has a towel to wipe down the bathtub edge because he doesn’t want her to slip 🥹
awe what a lovely uncle, im sure shes gonna enjoy spending time w her dear uncle
That's one lucky niece, he'll give her all the love in the world!
I've been watching this guy on insta for a long time and he is the best, most gentle, caring uncle I've ever seen. He's such a sweetheart. Those kids are lucky to have him as an uncle ❤️
Support her head when lying her down brother
What a sweet family!!! 💜
Aww.. 🥰
r/KidsAreFingAdorable
I see an uncle
Beautiful 💛
What a guy 🫀
Darling Uncle. His niece will love him forever. ❤️
Some people say that (you can't see the angels) what about these people it's clear we all see
The bestest uncle
Down for taking care of others 🥰
I’m a special education teacher and the Down Syndrome kids are the best! They’re sassy, funny, and always happy. The absolute best.
Humans wirh Down syndrome are literally angels among us. We dont deserve their pure sweetness.
He is a very awesome young man!!!
What a sweet and gentle guy
Pendant que mon oncle me fait écrasement de tête
Holy shit I read that wrong
What a gentleman!
That’s a damn good uncle right there.
Imho this is sweet because it's always sweet and lovely to see an uncle caring for their niblings and investing time in them c: I don't think it really matters that he has DS and find it weird that people always need to point out when folks have DS
What a blessing your brother is
Yay, another video of a person with down syndrome for the digital zoo!
I’m not joking, the SWEETEST people I’ve ever met had a mental disability (idk if saying it that way is offensive I’m not trying to be)
One I’ve met, Sophie, she didn’t have a drop of malice in her, only thing she cared about was laughing with others and listening to us
My son on the spectrum thinks people with downs are soooo cute looking, his words and I agree.This is so precious and heart warming.