Springfield, Mo – Around 400,000 people have Down Syndrome in the United States. Several businesses and schools here in the Ozarks are helping to raise awareness by dressing down.
This month employers are allowing workers who normally would dress up to wear more casual clothes for a donation benefitting the Down Syndrome Group of the Ozarks. October is Down Syndrome awareness month, but more than raising funds and awareness supporters want to increase acceptance.
“When we had her at the hospital, it was a big surprise to everybody that she was diagnosed with down syndrome,” said June Calfee. “It was really hard. People compare it to grieving and I would agree with that; it changes your expectations for that child, it changes maybe some of your dreams that you had for that child.”
June Calfee says she was unfamiliar with Down Syndrome until her daughter was born almost six years ago. She says she found out about the Down Syndrome Group of the Ozarks at the hospital but took five months to connect with them. There, she found the resources, the knowledge and the support from other parents.
“There were a lot of parents there and people who had taken those footsteps before us,” she said. “Being a special needs parent is a different experience and so you really need to have that face-to-face contact with other people who really, truly, 100 percent knows what you’re going through.”
“It’s not just your family members who love you or your friends who are also parents, it’s someone who really gets is. When you say ‘my kid is not walking and they’re two and a half,’ they understand, their kid was there. ‘My kid can’t speak very well and she’s four,’ they get that. It’s invaluable to have people who really understand because you’re not being judged and they really get it.”
This year, at least 15 babies have been born with Down Syndrome in the Ozarks. Nationally, about 6,000 babies are born with it every year.
“It is the most common genetic disorder,” said Steph Miller, executive director of Down Syndrome Group of the Ozarks,
But like Calfee’s daughter, Matti, everyone one of them is unique.
“There are so many stereotypes with Down Syndrome – they’re going to be so happy, and be lovey on everyone, all the time, She’s just not like that, Matti is really shy when she first meets someone. She is definitely her own unique individual,” said Calfee.
The Down Syndrome Group of the Ozarks also pushes for inclusion in schools.
“Trying to get the kiddos into the mainstream classrooms as much as possible to help them be a part with their peers, and for their peers to also interact with them,” said Miller.
Matti just started her first year of kindergarten, and Calfee is now part of the education committee herself.
“Kids with disabilities can be in the classroom and they can be educated and their peers will gain a lot from it too,” Calfee said.
She says that’s the first step into moving from awareness into acceptance.
“Acceptance of living side by side with people with disabilities,” she said. “And knowing that when she becomes an adult, she needs to be fully immersed in this society. She is not going to go to a different grocery store to shop. She’s going to be there. So, the more comfortable we are in a society’s altogether the better it’s going to be for everybody.”
Miller says several area banks and schools are participating in the Dress Down fundraiser. The donations will go towards education materials for healthcare providers.
For more information on the fundraiser and how to participate, click here.
