A new study from the Netherlands looks at detecting sleep apnea using a home sleeping testing system. The WatchPAT system uses ” a wrist-worn watch, a finger probe and a snoring sensor.” The report discusses how important it is to detect and treat sleep…
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Linda Smith has an interesting story that includes behind-the-scenes of Las Vegas and philanthropy at a major level. Unwanted follows her from poverty and abuse as a child to disability advocate as an adult. You can listen to a podcast she did…
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Eternal Son offers American readers a rare insight into life with Down syndrome in Brazil. The author, CRISTOVÃO TEZZA, is one of Brazil’s foremost contemporary novelists, and the book won multiple awards. In this multi-award-winning autobiographical novel, Cristovão Tezza draws readers into…
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Written from a sibling’s perspective Shut Away gives a glimpse into institutional life. “How many brothers and sisters do you have?” It was one of the first questions kids asked each other when Catherine McKercher was a child. She never knew how…
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Reasons to Smile is one of my favorites for two reasons: 1) the beautiful photos that accompany each short story, and 2) that not one, but two of my favorite guys are featured in it. [Shoutout to two of the original gang…
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I chose this title, Memoirs of a Mongol without a Pony, to represent the letter Q for quandary because of the title and cover photo. Mongol is an outdated term considered offensive when used to describe Down syndrome: “The condition was originally…
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“Portrait of the Artist’s Mother is a memoir and an examination of the politics of disability. The author describes the pressure from medical institutions to undergo screening during pregnancy and assumptions that a child with Trisomy 21 should not live, even though people…
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This is a short, 42 page read with religious overtones. (Many of the memoirs that cover Down syndrome mention religion or religious beliefs – but that’s another post.) “One Day at a Time explores and explains the personal life of a mother…
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The job of sibling is sometimes difficult, regardless of what labels are applied to members of the family. This perspective, when told honestly, can give us important information of the status quo and how to help not just the individual with Down…
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My Life with Mosaic Down Syndrome by Robyn D. Batezel gives readers a glimpse into a type of Down syndrome that is rare and not very well understood. Facts about Mosaic Down Syndrome from the International Mosaic Down syndrome Association. Mosaic Down…
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