Downs Side Up: catalogue

Showing posts with label catalogue. Show all posts

Explaining the Radio Silence: What Have We Been Up To?

Sometimes life rattles by at such a pace doesn't it. I mean really, where does the time go?
There are so very many things in the air at the moment but I just don't seem to be able to find the time to sit here and share them with you over a cup of tea.
My friend Emma says that she enjoys a little catch up newslettery kind of a post once in a while, so here goes...

Something for the Weekend

Read all about it

We've been busy on the media front. A couple of months ago we were interviewed by The Guardian Weekend Magazine for a big spread about Down's syndrome. The piece has been on hold for a while and I had to promise not to talk to any other publications, (it's hard for me to keep quiet but I did!) but the time has finally come and it should be in this Saturday 17th supplement.

I'm nervous, I always feel very vulnerable when we go public as a family, but I trust the journalist implicitly. And to be in a paper I often actually buy is quite a novelty. I still won't be reading the comments though.

Changing Perceptions in Sequins and Glitter

Natty being preened for a glossy photoshoot

Then back in August Natty and I went up to London for a photo shoot for the UK's largest selling glossy magazine. It's for the Christmas edition which comes out next month, so more about that nearer the time...but needless to say I am bursting with pride that they wanted a little model with Down's syndrome within their posh pages. Natty certainly is changing the face of beauty one smile at a time.

Did I tell you she called a fellow passenger a 'big fat pig' on the train on the way there though? She did. She actually did. She wasn't, she was lovely and brushed it off with a laugh. Lucky. *Sigh*

Charity Christmas Catalogue

Mencap have taken two large boxes of our little book for children I Love You Natty to sell in their Christmas Catalogue this year. We are so very excited to be able to reach more young families, support groups and school this way.

*shameless plug*
And with profits going to the learning disability charity, what better reason that to buy a copy for someone's stocking this season.

Training Professionals

Remember we popped up to Edinburgh in August to make a podcast film with Hazel Powell and the NHS Education for Scotland (NES), and meet nurse and midwife trainers and well as the lead nurse for Scotland? Well, the film is finished and nearly ready to share with the world. We've watched it and hope that it will provide a springboard for discussion in medical professionals' training, particularly in the arena of delivering a diagnoses and supporting new parents. I am quite certain that it's a powerful watch.

Paul and Emma give an inspiring speech

Last week, I headed over to Northampton (which turns out to be incredibly tricky to reach from Cornwall!) for the National Portage Service Annual Conference. I was lucky enough to be able to share our journey and experiences of Portage with other families and professionals, as well as learning so much from the other speakers, including Paul and Emma who share a house together and live independently with support.

Writing for Change

I've had a couple of very exciting writing projects to get my teeth into as well of late. I was asked to produce a chapter for a book on improving the healthcare of people with a learning disability which is just about finished. Well, it's been submitted but I keep tweaking it and writing to the author with an updated file.
Must. Leave. Alone.
Sorry Steve.

The British Medical Journal also asked for an article for doctors working with adults with Down's syndrome. With a massive amount of input from actress Sarah Gordy from Wood for the Trees, and speaker James Hamilton, who both have Down's syndrome, as well as the General Medical Council, the piece is nearly finished. I've really enjoyed working on it and have learnt a great deal in the process.

Oh, and The Department of Health published a little piece about Natty starting primary school as part of their #BestStart0to19 campaign last week. You can read Transition into School: Small Steps for Little Ones with SEN on Viv Bennet's site at here.

Awards

MAD Blog Awards
I was an emotional wreck after being announced the winner of the MADs Blog Award for Outstanding Contribution. To say I felt over-whelmed was an understatement. My face mostly looked like this all evening:

Proud, humbled and emotional at the MAD Blog Awards @TomArber

I bumbled through an ad hoc acceptance speech. And cried. A lot. Thank you to everyone who put my name forward. It really means such a lot.

Mumsnet Blogging Awards
Then more excitement. Mumsnet is also a large network of very serious writers and I could never have imagined that Downs Side Up would be chosen from hundreds of entrants as a finalist in the Campaigner category of their blog awards, alongside the simply incredible bloggers Comeback Mum and Complicated Gorgeousness, all winners.

I actually had a bit of a funny turn when I saw this news but am now looking forward to a group hug with the others at Blogfest, coming up in November.

Learning Disability Champions
I also found my name listed as a Learning Disability Today Champions finalist. I find this very embarrassing. I have sat on this news for weeks because I can't bear to keep bleating on about awards... new parents landing there don't want to read that. But by the same token I am hugely proud to have been considered by medical professionals and the editors of Magazine Learning Disability Today as a leading parent advocate in the world of LD.

So many of my inspirations and gurus are also listed, from teaching staff, to nurses and self-advocates, as well as fellow bloggers. We are all working together for better understanding and equality for those with a learning disability. So pop over and have your say here.

********

I think that's it for now. We are off for a family break together shortly and that is the best news of all. Uninterrupted time with our girls. Because at the end of the day, we are just an ordinary family, doing what ordinary families do.

Festive Fine Motor Skill Fun: Paper Chains!

It's that time of year! A recycling box full of unwanted catalogues and children wanting Christmas craft ideas.

Once I've flicked through them, if I even get time for that, I pop them straight into the recycling bin, making a mental note to remove myself from the umpteen mailing lists.

That is, until last week when Natty was off school due a sudden bout of bed and pyjama-covering vomiting. Clearly not able to go to school but jolly and chirpy in herself, we decided to settling down to a spot of Mummy and daughter making and doing.

The plush paper booklets, fliers and leaflets lay on the kitchen table as we ate our breakfast, promising ever more original gifts for the neighbour, teacher, pet dog...

AHA! I thought. They were all in festive colours, silvers and greys with touches of red and green splurged on them. They would make perfect Christmas decorations: paper chain material!

In the past I have bought costly paper chain making kits, the sort where your child ingests copious amounts of glue, licking the ends to stick them together. They look lovely but... we would have a go at making our own, for a fraction of the cost.

You will need:

unwanted Christmas catalogues

scissors or a guillotine

stapler

I cut the paper into roughly similar widths and lengths then Natty began looping the strips through each other and holding them in place while I stapled them together. I was struck by how fiddly this was and what a super little exercise for developing her fine motor skills. Her Occupational Therapist would have been proud!

She even demanded to do it all by herself. The stapler was a little stiff for her small hands but with a bit of help she got the hang of it.

The results were better than I could have imagined, we made meters of the cheap decorations over a few days. And more importantly Natty learnt a new life skill and she was kept occupied while getting over her tummy bug.

Happy Christmas artsy crafty creating!

Check out our Christmas Pinterest Ideas here.
You might also like to read Painting a Triceratops: Fine Motor Skills Development here. Or try Christmas pretzel biscuits here.

Gorgeous Models - One with Downs Syndrome

My head is spinning with fabulous blog posts that I can't quite find the time to sit down and craft at the moment:

Breastfeeding a baby with Down's Syndrome part 2

Tips to alleviate constipation

An observation on a mother and son with Down's I met by chance in town

The consultant that diagnosed Natty's condition at birth revisited and re-evaluated...

They'll all have to wait. School hols and lots of lovely house guests are taking precedent, and that's how it should be.

We blog about life, not live through our blogs, after all.

Beauty Comes in Many Forms

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful,

for beauty is God's handwriting --

a wayside sacrament.
Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every flower,

and thank God for it as a cup of blessing.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

But in the meantime I'd like to share a proud little moment with you all. Seemingly frivolous perhaps, but huge for the future of Down's Syndrome, the way our children are perceived.

Today, Frugi launched their Autumn Winter '12 collection. Natty and her sister Mia are there, amongst the other beautiful models. Just 2 happy little girls having fun with others, and enjoying dressing up in pretty clothes...

Getting Natty's face into catalogues was always one branch of my idea for gently changing perceptions of Down's Syndrome, alonside the blog, media appearances and article writing.

In one small photo, a simple shot of a girl wearing pretty clothes, lies a hugely important message.

The message conveyed is that children with Down's Syndorme are beautiful, love gorgeous clothes, deserve to be well dressed. That they are just as important as any other child, they are capable of the same activities, enjoy life to the full, can work as clothing models, are loved by their siblings and friends. They too can woo a camera person, make a marketing team giggle and are role models for other children who see themselves represented in mainstream media for the first time.

I hope Natty has gained an immeasurable amount of confidence from being accepted as a model too. She beams from ear to ear whenever she sees her face in print.

Put simply, I hope that other beautiful small people with an extra chromosome simply look at Natty in those pages and see a girl who looks a bit like them but who doesn't really stand out at all. She is just one of the gang. She looks natural and at home amongst the others.

And that has been our family motto since the day Natty was born... she is just one of the gang.