It is a struggle for me to know how to describe our 5-year old daughter Penny, who has Down syndrome. On the one hand, I want to tell skeptical strangers that she’s smart, and I want to back up that loaded word with proof of her accomplishments. I want to describe how she asks, “Mom,…

 Over the past several weeks, we have been highlighting writings by adults with Down Syndrome and the book Writing Our Lives by those same adults, edited by Mary Ann Jansen. This week we have a collection of poems and an essay from the book.  To purchase your own copy of Writing Our Lives click here.…

The other night, Penny and William and I were reading Corduroy, a children’s book about a bear in a department store. A little girl saves her money to buy the bear. And they all lived happily ever after. As we were reading, Penny asked, “Mom, what’s a piggy bank?” I said, “Oh, it’s a place…

Last week, “Perfectly Human” featured a reflection by a Mary Ann Jansen. She described the process of leading a writer’s circle for adults with Down Syndrome. Today, Mary Ann agreed to share some of the reflections these adults offered to the questions: What is Down Syndrome?  How would you explain it to people? How do…

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