{"id":127129,"date":"2019-04-29T14:57:14","date_gmt":"2019-04-29T18:57:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/indianapolis\/?p=127129"},"modified":"2019-04-29T14:57:14","modified_gmt":"2019-04-29T18:57:14","slug":"meet-our-2019-3-21-mile-run-adult-honoree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/indianapolis\/meet-our-2019-3-21-mile-run-adult-honoree\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet our 2019 3.21 Mile Run Adult Honoree"},"content":{"rendered":"

Terrell Newman<\/strong><\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/h1>\n

31-year old Terrell Newman is crushing life like his favorite WWE wrestler Sasha Banks. \u201cI love wrestling,\u201d Newman gushes. \u201cI watch it every Monday and Tuesday night. Sasha Banks is a legit boss. One day I want to be general manager of WWE Smackdown.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Newman\u2019s enthusiasm for wrestling – and life – are contagious. His mother, Charlotte Dixson, says he\u2019s always been like that. \u201cHe is a very outgoing person, a social butterfly with a humble spirit, a bubbly personality, with a caring and compassionate heart. He meets no stranger and he loves everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But things weren\u2019t always so rosy. Born in Wurzburg, Germany while his parents were serving in the Army, Newman was transported from a U.S. military hospital to a German hospital for \u201ccomplications\u201d shortly after birth. His mother wasn\u2019t allowed to see him for four days.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as I held him, I just knew he had Down syndrome,\u201d Dixson recalls. \u201cI cried, not out of disappointment or shame, but out of guilt and confusion. I recall a voice coming to me and it said, \u2018Why are you crying?\u00a0 God knew he needed special people to take care of him, so He sent Terrell to you.\u2019 It was at that moment I knew everything would be alright.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Because Newman is extremely high-functioning and independent, Dixson struggled to find the appropriate placement for him. Newman was put in special education classes in Indianapolis Public Schools. \u201cIt broke my heart when they told me he would never graduate and get a high school diploma. That was devastating to me. These days lots of kids with Down syndrome not only graduate high school, but go to college. Things were different back then.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Newman received a Certificate of Completion from Arlington High School in 2006, but never found meaningful work \u2013 until last year. Newman is now an intern at GiGi\u2019s Playhouse, volunteering 15 hours or more a week. He\u2019s especially fond of the time he spends with the LMNOP class designed for kids ages newborn to 36 months.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Just mention the babies and Newman lights up. \u201cI love the babies. I love to hold the babies and be kind of like a big brother to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cGiGi\u2019s is such a wonderful place because they cater to people at all ability levels \u2013 children and adults,\u201d Dixson says. \u201cBefore GiGi\u2019s, Terrell was just sitting at home, playing video games, and having no quality of life. GiGi\u2019s has truly been a Godsend for us. It\u2019s given his life purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In addition to the time he spends interning, Newman also takes a ballroom dance class and is enrolled in several adult classes including E.P.I.C., S.M.A.R.T., GiGiFit, Cooking Club, and Fantastic Friends.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI love GiGi\u2019s because I make a lot of friends,\u201d Newman says. \u201cI love to have Down syndrome because it makes me special. I make a lot of people smile. God wanted me to be at GiGi\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“I thank God for Terrell – he is truly a blessing and I wouldn’t trade the experience of having a child with Down syndrome for nothing in the world,\u201d Dixson say. \u201cThe experience is priceless!”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Terrell\u2019s uplifting story and outlook on life are an inspiration, and we are proud to honor him as the 2019 3.21 Mile Run Adult Honoree.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Terrell Newman 31-year old Terrell Newman is crushing life like his favorite WWE wrestler Sasha Banks. \u201cI love wrestling,\u201d Newman gushes. \u201cI watch it every Monday and Tuesday night. Sasha Banks is a legit boss. One day I want to be general manager of WWE Smackdown.\u201d   Newman\u2019s enthusiasm for wrestling – and life –…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/indianapolis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/indianapolis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/indianapolis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/indianapolis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/indianapolis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/indianapolis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127129\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/indianapolis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/indianapolis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/indianapolis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}