2014

Weekly Roundup 3.21.14World Down Syndrome Day, atheism, children's books and more
Weekly Roundup 3.21.14

The big news of the week in my world is World Down Syndrome Day, celebrated today because the technical name for Down syndrome is Trisomy 21. Trisomy means three-chromosomes. People with Down syndrome have three copies of chromosome 21 instead of the typical pair. Thus, 3-21. ...

What We Celebrate on World Down Syndrome DayAnd how you can help us tell, and live, the good stories
What We Celebrate on World Down Syndrome Day

Every week, I read heartwarming stories about Down syndrome: homecoming kings and queens, young men and women going to college, starting businesses, becoming models and actors, running marathons. And every week, I read horror stories about Down syndrome: rape that only becomes ...

The Best Parenting Advice I Ever ReceivedSmile. A lot.
The Best Parenting Advice I Ever Received
Image: Chris Cappoziello

People sometimes ask me what I've "done right" with Penny. They ask because Penny reads and goes to ballet class and practices piano and orders her own meal when we eat at a restaurant. They ask because she is "high functioning." I suspect many people ...

Perfectly Human: Reflections on Seven Years with my Daughter with Down syndromeWhy one mother now prays for strength and weakness
Perfectly Human: Reflections on Seven Years with my Daughter with Down syndrome

It's a bright Sunday afternoon at the park. My youngest daughter Evangeline giggles in an adaptive swing while her dad dutifully pushes her back and forth. We adopted Evangeline, who has Down syndrome and autism, from Ukraine. Elaina and Zoya, our two older girls, with ...

Anticipating World Down Syndrome Day: What I Admire About My DaughterHow Penny is helping me learn the secret of being content
Anticipating World Down Syndrome Day: What I Admire About My Daughter

When Penny was diagnosed with Down syndrome at birth, I was sad and scared. The sadness and the sorrow dissipated with time, replaced by joy and hope. One of the reasons I began to have joy and hope for this baby I loved was because I began to believe that she wasn't ...

Weekly Roundup 3.14.14Two stories--one sad, one hopeful-- of disability, plus faith and culture
Weekly Roundup 3.14.14

If you only have time to check out two articles this week, I highly recommend the first two--both related to disability. One is the hard and sad story of men with intelletual disabilities who were virtually enslaved by a turkey processing company. The other is a delightful ...

Want Some Rules for Spending Money?I'm glad the dos and don'ts don't work after all
Want Some Rules for Spending Money?

A few years back, I was talking with a Christian friend about what spiritual principles we should invoke when we think about spending money. "I just wish there was a formula," she said. "I wish I had some dos and don'ts every time I walked into Target." ...

Lenten Reflections: Confessing the Small ThingsWhy I'm sorry I bought that dress
Lenten Reflections: Confessing the Small Things

I am packing to go on a short vacation with my husband. I have been thinking about this time away all winter—three nights for just the two of us in Florida when I join him on the end of a business trip. Three days of sunshine. Three days of walks on the beach and calling ...

Sinless Down Syndrome Angels? Or Something Else?A Perfectly Human guest post by author Margot Starbuck
Sinless Down Syndrome Angels? Or Something Else?

Peeking out from my living room window, I see one of my sons chucking a snowball at a neighbor who has Down Syndrome.

This could be disconcerting for some moms, I know, but not this one.

It's February in North Carolina and, after a rare snowfall, the friendliest snowball ...

Why Ending the R-Word Isn't EnoughSpread the attitude to change the attitude
Why Ending the R-Word Isn't Enough

A few weeks ago, Jerry Seinfeld appeared on The Tonight Show. His five-minute comedy set included a joke comparing inept postal workers to the "mentally handicapped." (See Mark Leach's gracious post about this incident for more information and analysis of it.) ...

Weekly Roundup 3.7.14genetically-modified babies, prenatal testing, the presence of God, and more...
Weekly Roundup 3.7.14

I've been in bed with what has turned out to be a sinus infection for most of this week, which leads to a somewhat fuzzy brain and lots of time for skimming articles. So here are a few you might enjoy:

Faith

"We cannot attain the presence of God because we're ...

Perfectly Human: Reflections on Disability and the Good LifeIntroducing a weekly series
Perfectly Human: Reflections on Disability and the Good Life
Image: Chris Cappozziello

Soon after our daughter Penny was born and diagnosed with Down syndrome, I started to ask questions about the spiritual implications of her disability. To give a glimpse of some of the questions I was asking, here's an excerpt from our time in the hospital, as related ...

Lenten Reflections: Repent and Get on with itWhat my children's cheating taught me about sin and the kingdom of God
Lenten Reflections: Repent and Get on with it

A few weeks back, I was stuck inside with all three kids on yet another snow day. All of them wanted to be entertained. None of them wanted to play the same game. In an attempt to avoid a battle and to push off yet another hour of screen time, I agreed to play three games ...

What My Daughter Wants You To Know About Prenatal TestingYou don't need to worry.
What My Daughter Wants You To Know About Prenatal Testing
Image: Chris Cappozziello

At 5:00, my oldest daughter Penny finds me in bed. Cough drop wrappers, a used tea bag, and Dayquil packets surround me. "Come on up, sweetie," I say, and she climbs in next to me.

She has brought her spelling book. Her second grade assignment this week involves ...

Weekly Roundup 2.28.14 and Three Books to Read During LentFaith, Family, Disability, and what to read until Easter
Weekly Roundup 2.28.14 and Three Books to Read During Lent

I wrote A Defense of Lent earlier this week, and I promised to offer a few books to consider this Lenten season.

1. Love and Salt: A Spiritual Friendship in Letters (Loyola Press) began as two friends committed to write each other letters throughout the season of Lent. ...

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