By: Stephanie Holland

Parenting, of all kinds, requires hard work and determination. We all want the best for our children and try not to let what might go wrong keep us from living our best today. 

Sometimes, we need to put our own discomfort aside. Alzheimer’s disease is affecting record numbers of families, and a disproportionate percentage of the Down syndrome community will continue to be affected. We have seen an increase in attention being paid to research for a cure. We also need increase our efforts to support families that are facing caregiving for loved ones with dementia and other medical conditions that typically occur in adults with Down syndrome.

By Stephanie Holland

As we say goodbye to Down syndrome Awareness Month, I'd like to personally thank all those who participated and helped us with our efforts!   We managed to finish strong on the 21 for 31 blog challenge and we had so many great photos! 

While sharing stories and pictures was fun, we also started on a mission of greater importance:  spreading awareness of health disparities within our own community.  Thanks to Global Down Syndrome Foundation's national spokesperson, Beverly Johnson, the huge difference in life expectancy for people of color who have Down syndrome and Caucasian people with Ds was reported in mainstream media.  

Originally posted on 3/30/14 by Stephanie Holland

For those of us on The Road, WDSD was...  hectic to say the least.   Hectic in a GOOD way!  I didn't want the month to end without talking a little bit about the UN panel discussion on health.  

If you missed the presentation, you can watch it via download.  It's four hours of great speakers talking about - as you would expect, health care and access around the world.  

I was personally excited to see that one of Josh's doctors from when we lived in Maryland was speaking.  Dr. George Capone from the Kennedy Kreiger Institute Down syndrome Clinic in Baltimore, MD is one of my personal heroes.


He talked about guidelines that exist for newborns, and for children.   These guidelines are published by the American Academy of Pediatrics.  Dr. Capone mentioned that they were developed in 1994 and revised in 2001 and 2011.  They apparently try to update them regularly.


The only thing is - they stop at age 21.

What are your habits?
You may immediately think of some negative habits. Things no one is proud of or are downright rude.  Like, biting fingernails, cutting people off mid-sentence, or checking our phones ad nauseam?  

The thing is, I bet that you have some pretty great habits as well. Like, kissing your significant other when you leave in the morning, brushing your teeth at least twice a day, and putting your car keys in the same place when you get home. These are all simple and good habits.  

Why is this important?

Habits are our behavioral autopilot. If you are unsatisfied with the state of your overall health, it is often a result of your habits, or at least can be improved with new habits.

It is important to understand that your old habits don’t make you a bad person, but still realize that in order to achieve your wellness goals, old habits must change. After all, it’s those very habits got us into this mess, or are keeping us from improving.

Change is not easy.