31 for 21: Individual with Down Syndrome Owns His Own Restaurant

(original story here)

KALAMAZOO, MI -- The Arc Community Advocates will host its 6th annual Inclusion Conference Friday, Oct. 12, at the Fetzer Center at Western Michigan University.

The conference will focus on issues related to employment for individuals with disabilities. The main speakers will include an individual with Down Syndrome, Tim Harris, the owner of Tim’s Place in Albuquerque, NM.

"I had a dream for over ten years to own my own restaurant. In October of 2010, my dream came true. It feels great to be working in the restaurant and making a living like my brothers. I want have everyone with a disability to make their dreams come true," says Tim Harris. Mitch Morgan of Fifth/Third Bank will also speak about the success their organization has seen in hiring individuals with disabilities.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2011 only 20.8 percent of individuals with disabilities were participating in the workforce through active employment or receiving unemployment benefits while seeking employment compared with 69.5% of individuals with no disability. The Inclusion Conference will offer workshops for individuals with disabilities to help them gain skills for employment as well as workshops for employers to provide resources, training, and information on employment of individuals with disabilities.

Ellen Stone, Executive Director of The Arc Community Advocates, says, “As we move forward in creating a community where all individuals are accepted and valued, we are excited about the potential for this conference to help close the employment gap for our community.”
Registration is $25 and includes lunch for the day. Registration forms can be found at www.communityadvocates.org or by calling 269-342-9801.

The Arc Community Advocates will also be hosting a free film festival that focuses on films discussing employment of individuals with disabilities on Thursday, Oct. 11, from 7-9 p.m. at Rave Motion Pictures in Downtown Kalamazoo.

Tickets can be picked up in advance at The Arc Community Advocates office, 814 S. Westnedge Ave. or can be obtained at the door.

— Story provided by Arc Community Advocates.

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31 for 21: How Do Politics Fit In With Down Syndrome?

I've mentioned a few times the last few months that we have gotten involved as political activists. I try to keep a lot of the details of that off of this blog and just refer over to my other blog. But, this is an important issue and I want to address how politics affects (or can affect) the lives of our loved ones with Down syndrome.

Over the last 4 years, my eyes have been opened to the insanity that is going on in our government. It's never been a surprise that our government is corrupt, but there were things that I thought were good for our nation, when in fact, they are not. An example of that would be the PATRIOT Act, which sounds good on it's face to supposedly keep us safe from terrorists, but is in reality an act with bi-partisan support which basically says "the 4th amendment doesn't matter."

We all know that politicians rarely do what they say they are going to and they don't keep their word. When I came across a politician who actually upheld the Oath that he took to the Constitution, it was a breath of fresh air. That politician's name is Congressman Ron Paul. Through the past few years, I have become enlightened, largely because of Ron Paul, on so many issues facing our nation. Not the least of which is Liberty & Freedom. (If you don't know who Ron Paul is or don't know much about him: Google Ron Paul ;).)



This is where we see how politics can affect or already has affected the lives of individuals with Down syndrome.

To those of us involved in the world of Down syndrome, it's a known fact that 92% of babies prenatally diagnosed with DS are aborted. Such a sick reality. Our current President has continued to promote the killing of innocent lives who are not even able to have a voice. The fact that so many of our politicians - on both sides of the aisle - could care less about these lives, says they don't care about Liberty. For if they did, they would work to protect life, because without life, there is no liberty.

The current administration is working hard to pass the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) as well as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). A couple years ago I shared about the UNCRC here.

Anytime the UN - *think big government*- gets involved in our Country, it's bad news. The above two Conventions sound all warm and fuzzy, but they are not. These conventions are doing two things: 1) taking the rights of parents and families to raise their and giving it to the state government, the federal government and an international governing body. 2) taking the rights of parents and families on how best to raise and care for an individual with disabilities and giving it to the state government, the federal government and an international governing body.

There is no way I want the government telling me what is best for my brother with Down syndrome. The government has no care for my brother. They don't know his needs. They don't know what is best for him. They don't love him.

Are they going to think that we are doing something which is not in his "best interest" because he doesn't eat wheat or cow-based dairy and therefore force us to feed him something that we know causes him great harm?

Some of you may think I'm out to lunch for saying the above things. But, when the government is given powers that they should not have (according to our Constitution), they are known to abuse it.

I don't want my Nation to ratify these above conventions. The UN can leave America alone, please! Or, I should say, it would be nice if the United States left the UN. But, we must have politicians in office who will stand up to the UN and not allow these treaties to be ratified. Right now, it's a close line on who will stand against these treaties and who will be for them.

This is one reason why it's important that we have elected officials in place who will keep their oath to the Constitution. If we have elected officials in place who will do this, then we would not be sitting on the fence wondering if these treaties would pass - because congress would simply say NO.

Another issue that could greatly impact lives of people with Down syndrome is Obamacare - or government run health care (also known as "Romneycare"). I don't want the government mandating that I must buy health insurance. I also don't want the government telling me that someone has to be on a waiting list for a procedure because their life is not as valuable as others, simply due to them having an extra chromosome. It's very likely that situation could happen with socialized medicine. It's not good.

The overall conclusion as to how politics fits into the realm of Down syndrome is simple: Love.



I will close with this: Do you realize why people like myself got politically involved? It is because I’m not going to sit by and watch our nation be destroyed by politicians who don’t care. I care for our soldiers who are dying as they are sent to useless wars. I care for the lives of unborn babies who are aborted by the thousands. I care for the lives of my brothers, sisters, family, friends and all of you – my fellow citizens.


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31 for 21: October means....

October means a few things....

....Fall is well underway
....the leaves are starting to change color
....the weather is starting to cool

But, it also means....

....it is Down Syndrome Awareness Month
....Buddy walks are going on around the nation
....And it's the 31 for 21 Blog challenge

What is the 31 for 21 challenge? The goal is to blog every day (31 days) in October for Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome). It doesn't have to be about Down syndrome, but the goal is to raise awareness about Down syndrome.

So, here we go! After not having blogged much at all for months....let's see how this goes. Scheduled blog posts will be my friend, I'm sure :).

Just to briefly describe what Down syndrome is....Down syndrome is a genetic anomaly where a child is born with 3 copies of the 21st chromosome instead of the usual 2. The average person has 46 chromosomes - 2 of each. But, a person with Down Syndrome has 47 chromosomes. Because of the extra chromosome, it causes multiple genes/proteins to be overexpressed, which leads to the characteristics (as well as certain health problems) associated with Down syndrome.

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