10-year-old disabled boy left on bus for four hours

by Randy Escamilla from Fox 29 San Antonio:

PLEASANTON, Texas -- Pleasanton Independent School District officials scrambled Tuesday to find out how a 10-year old disabled 4th grader with Down's syndrome was left behind on a school bus for four hours in 43-degree weather.

The incident happened Monday. According to the grandmother of Ethan Ramos, 10, a maintenance worker cleaning the bus found the boy.

Ethan suffers from numerous disabilities including Down's syndrome, sleep apnea, heart disease, and asthma.

"He could have died. Simple as that," said Ethan's grandmother Anna Lisa Alvarez.

Inspiration found at Special Olympics Winter Games in Whitefish

Dax VanFossen - MTN News Kalispell KPAX 8 .com:

WHITEFISH - Athletes with disabilities have been able to show their strengths through the power or sports at the State Winter Games in Montana for two decades, but the games inspire more than just the athletes.

You'd be hard pressed to find a better backdrop than Whitefish Mountain Resort for the 20th annual State Winter Games for Special Olympics of Montana. And while the competitions are very important to the athletes, we found out they are extremely important to the family members of the athletes as well.

"It's a game changer, it's added a piece to our life that has a ripple effect that you wouldn't be able to describe. But the experience has been life altering for both our family and Abbie's experience of being in the world," explained Mamie Flinn, whose daughter has Down Syndrome.

Those with disabilities now ABLE to save, celebrate the passage of bill

by Salena Zito from Triblive.com:

WASHINGTON — Sara Wolff's life story aptly took her to the White House on Tuesday.

There, she joined two others from her hometown of Scranton — Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey — to celebrate passage of a bill that enables families of disabled children to save money for their needs.

“I never could imagine such a great experience than being here with the champions that pushed this bill across the finish line,” Wolff, 32, who has Down syndrome, said as she stepped up to the podium. “Wow, and I get to be here with the vice president of the United States!”

Casey invited Wolff, a former intern in his Scranton office, to attend the event marking the years of work that went into the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act, or ABLE law, that President Obama signed in December.

The bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., allows people with disabilities to save up to $100,000 in 529-type accounts without jeopardizing government benefits. Recipients can withdraw the money tax-free to pay for medical costs, employment training, housing, education and other qualified expenses.

“This bill goes to the heart of what the president and Republican and Democrat colleagues want for all Americans: to be given an even chance,” Biden said.

Mother Defends Herself Against Claim That She Abandoned Son With Down Syndrome

by Kennedy Ryan from KTLA 5:
A new mother accused by her husband of abandoning their child after learning the boy was born with Down syndrome went public this week to tell her side of the story.
Leo Forrest was born in Armenia on Jan. 21, to Ruzan Badalyan and Samuel Forrest.
Despite the diagnosis, Forrest considered his son to be “perfect,” he said in an interview with ABC News.
His wife, however, had “refused to even look at or touch the newborn,” according to a GoFundMe fundraising page set up to support Forrest and his son.
Badalyan was afraid “of getting attached in a society where defects are not accepted, often bringing shame on the family involved,” the GoFundMe page stated.
But speaking out for the first time, Badalyan claimed the decisions she made concerning her family’s future were the “hardest moments” of her life, according to a recent Facebook post obtained by ABC News.

Teen with Down syndrome makes big impact at part-time job

Dallas News | myFOXdfw.com

by Melissa Cutler from FOX 4  News:

A Highland Park high school student is making an impact at his part-time job.

Nick Jones' task is to make sure every car on his dealership's lot is perfect, and his work is making a bigger impression than he may realize.

One thing that sets 18-year-old Nick apart from many is how happy he is to go to work.

Nick also has Down syndrome and sometimes struggles with words. Otherwise, he's just one of the guys at Park Cities Ford in Dallas.

“This is a big step for Nick to have this opportunity and experience being a contributing member in his community,” said his mom, Katie Jones.

For the past year, the Highland Park senior has worked Monday through Friday after school, checking for unlocked doors.

The best part is that it's his dream job, working near his dream car – the Ford Mustang.

He gets excited every time he sees one.

His mother says things haven't been easy for Nick.

“Back in the day, as they say and thinking he didn't have much of a future because that's what you're told,” said Katie. “That's what the doctors tell you. That's what everyone around you tells you.”

WDSD NATIONAL MERCHANDISE PARTNERS

from World Down Syndrome Day:

Below is a list of our WDSD NATIONAL MERCHANDISE PARTNERS who may be able to offer our range of LOTS OF SOCKS logo socks and t-shirts, or WDSD t-shirts, subject to availability.
If you are based in one of these countries, please contact them first for WDSD Merchandise. If not available there, go ahead and purchase from our ONLINE SHOP.

ALBANIA - Jonathan Center
GRENADA - Grenada Down Syndrome Association martalanza@hotmail.com
GEORGIA - Association of Professionals and Parents of Children with Down Syndrome "Our Children"
IRAQ - Down Syndrome Association of Iraq (Hiba Centre for Down Syndrome)
IRELAND - Down Syndrome Ireland
LUXEMBURG - Trisomie21.Lu
MACAU (CHINA) - Macau Down Syndrome Association
NIGERIA - Down Syndrome Foundation Nigeria
SINGAPORE - Down Syndrome Association Singapore
SOUTH AFRICA - Down Syndrome South Africa
SOUTH KOREA - Korea Down Syndrome Society
UNITED KINGDOM (England & Wales) - Down's Syndrome Association
UNITED KINGDOM (Northern Ireland) - Down's Syndrome Association

If you are not able to make contact with the organisation in your country, please contact Down Syndrome International for assistance.

Law boosts ability of those with disabilities to save

by Ellie Silverman from McClatchey Washington Bureau Sun Herald.com:
WASHINGTON — When Kayla Kosmalski was 6 months old, her parents realized they weren’t allowed to save for her future. Family members could give Kayla only small amounts of money as birthday or graduation presents.This realization shocked her parents, Amy and Rick Kosmalski of Delaware. To them, Kayla is an “amazing and beautiful and intelligent” girl who “just happens to have Down syndrome.”But the law didn’t see it that way, until the bipartisan passage in December of the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act, known as the ABLE Act. President Barack Obama subsequently signed the bill into law. To celebrate the new financial freedom for families such as the Kosmalskis, Vice President Joe Biden and a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Sens. Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Bob Casey, D-Pa., gathered Tuesday at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.Previously, a person with a disability had a $2,000 limit on assets. If there were more, they would lose their Medicaid and Social Security benefits.Burr called the measure a “common-sense” piece of legislation.

Delaware family celebrates new law for disabled

by Nicole Gaudiano from News Journal Washington Bureau:
WASHINGTON – Rick and Amy Kosmalski of Bear wanted their 8-year-old daughter to be able to save for her education and other needs, just as their son could.
But a Medicaid rule prevented Kayla, who has Down syndrome, from having more than $2,000 in her name. Unlike her 2-year-old brother, Logan, Kayla couldn't use a tax-advantaged account to save money she received as gifts from relatives.
A new law changes that rule – and Kayla's future. On Tuesday, Kayla's family participated in an event hosted by Vice President Joe Biden to celebrate passage of the ABLE (Achieving a Better Life Experience) Act.
"She'll be able to save for and pay for the things that she needs to be the best person she can be," said Rick Kosmalski, a marketing manager at JPMorgan Chase & Co. "That's really what the ABLE Act does. It gives her more financial freedom in her life."
Amy Kosmalski said, "Now we'll finally be able to save for her future."

Ohio considers Down syndrome abortion ban - what are your thoughts?

by Jackie Borchardt from Cleveland.com and Northeast Ohio Media Group:
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- An Ohio woman who learns her unborn child has Down syndrome would not be allowed to terminate the pregnancy under legislation sought by the state's largest anti-abortion group.
A yet-to-be introduced bill would prohibit abortions sought because a pre-natal screening or diagnostic test showed the fetus could have Down syndrome, also known as trisomy 21. The genetic disorder causes developmental delays and intellectual disability of varying degrees.

Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life, said details such as how the law would be enforced are still being determined as the bill is drafted. Gonidakis said any penalties would be for the physician, not the woman, consistent with other legislation the group has supported.

"Everyone wants to be born perfect and none of us are, and we don't think we should devalue life based on a false sense of perfection," Gonidakis said.

White House Marks Passage Of ABLE Act

by Michelle Diament from Disability Scoop:
More than a month after enacting a law allowing people with disabilities a new way to save money, the White House is celebrating what’s being hailed as landmark legislation.
Vice President Joe Biden will host members of Congress and disability advocates Tuesday afternoon at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building for an event marking the passage of the Achieving a Better Life Experience, or ABLE, Act.
The law, signed by President Barack Obama in late December, paves the way for people with disabilities to open special accounts where they can save up to $100,000 without jeopardizing eligibility for Social Security and other government benefits.
Tuesday’s event is expected to bring together advocates who lobbied for the ABLE Act and more than a half-dozen lawmakers instrumental in passing the legislation including U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla.
Sara Wolff, who has Down syndrome and testified before Congress about the significance of the ABLE Act, is expected to speak at the White House ceremony.