Necessarily resourceful and imaginative

Without naming any names, I was bragging about the remarkable humanity of one of the Playhouse’s most generous contributors – a mother with a child with Down syndrome. I was listing a few of her many contributions to another very generous philanthropist who is making a huge contribution to the world in the form of a Down TV – check it out:  http://www.downtv.org/

Would this woman be such a humanitarian if her child had not been born with Down syndrome?

I guessed yes, but truth is – we’ll never know.

This morning I got to talk to Sarah Hendren, artist, mother, designer whose career path changed dramatically when her first child was born with Down syndrome.  Her idea of success went from how do I sell my paintings for more money, to how do I work with prosthetic designers so that the stature of individuals with disabilities is normalized?  She believes that when an assistive device is normalized, so is the user of that device.  She believes that many assistive devices are under-designed, another words: un-cool.

My questions to you is, if your life had not been touched by someone with Down syndrome, who would you be?  Who are you because of this person’s influence?  I wager that our most resourceful and imaginative contributions are the product of reshaping our world in order to accommodate whatever special needs we find in our sphere.  I propose that when you love someone with Down syndrome, you become more resourceful and imaginative!

Britt Sady – Mother, Dreamer, Executive Director – GiGi’s Playhouse NYC