'Sounds Like Fun' by Barbara Milne - a great CD for speech

Many have asked for recommendations on aids for speech. One item we found particularly helpful was the CD "Sounds Like Fun" by Barbara Milne. We listened to it mostly in the car and it was an instant hit. It covers many topics like alphabet sounds, manners, calendar and much more. The top song is probably "Letter Sounds (apple apple aaa)" song which is a great way to get your child to start making the sounds of the alphabet.

plays first piano recital in memory of his mother

from the Nottingham Post:

AS Stephen Green played the final notes of Love Me Tender the applause was immediate and rapturous.

Heaving a big sigh of relief and satisfaction the 47-year-old looked around the room and smiled.

His pride was obvious – and no wonder.

As someone with Down's syndrome, Stephen assumed he would not be able to read music.

But seven years after he first tapped the keys of his brother's old piano he performed his first-ever recital at Holy Trinity Church in Kimberley on Sunday.

He played Love Me Tender by Elvis, which was the favourite song of his mother June who died in 1993.

"It was exciting," he said. "I wasn't nervous at all. I love to play music and I practice a lot.

"Love Me Tender is my favourite song to play because of my mum."

Stephen, who lives in Nuthall and is a former pupil of Shepherd School, Bilborough, practices three times a day on the piano, organ and keyboard.

As well as Love Me Tender, he plays Amazing Grace, Wooden Heart and Abba's Super Trooper.

His proud father Grenville Green, 69, said: "To be quite honest I never in my wildest dreams thought he would be doing this.

"He played absolutely perfectly and afterwards let out a big sigh – he was so proud, he was like a dog with two tails and the applause was rapturous.

"We are very lucky to have a family friend who has taken the time to teach Stephen but he has put in the time and effort to become such a good player."

Stephen, who volunteers once-a-week at Oak Field School And Sports College in Bilborough, was taught by Denise Lacey to read and play music.

He has also completed sponsored swims for charity, including one for Kimberley Leisure Centre to raise money for a hoist so disabled people could use the pool.

Denise, a professional piano teacher, said she had never known an adult with Down's syndrome learn to read music like Stephen.

"I think it is very rare," said the 53-year-old, of Langley Mill.

"It took him quite a while to understand how to read music and he puts in hours and hours of practice. I've found it really rewarding to teach him. I think he's taught me as much as I've taught him."

Music is Cape Coral man's gift

from news-press.com by Cristela Guerra:

“You are my sunshine ... my only sunshine.”

The song seeps out of the partially open door and spreads into the hallway, stopping ... and starting again.

“You make me happy when skies are gray.”

Inside the small room at Cape Coral’s Gulf Coast Village Retirement Community, the curtains are drawn back.

“Come on Jimmy, sing with me,” says Thom Traucht, 60, Jimmy’s brother. In a wheelchair near the twin bed sits Jimmy Traucht. Some call him Jimbo, Jim Jim or their baby.

Others, when they ask him for prayers, call him a godsend.

They say he’s got the ear of the man upstairs. As Gulf Coast’s first and only resident with Down syndrome, the 85-pound, 52-year-old is an angel to those suffering from Alzheimer’s. He’s lived in their unit called The Cove for almost 10 years.

Jimmy sings to everyone, off-key, but never off-tune.

Music moves him.

He draws smiles out of those who don’t speak and uses two fingers to play the piano for them.

“People really love having him around here. He gets a response,” said Dawn Santos, Jimmy’s nurse of five years. “He’s not your typical resident. He’s family.”

In 1959, very few knew what it meant to have an extra chromosome.

The difference between the number 46 and 47 in one’s genetic makeup has the width of a chasm.

It meant a choice: Keep a child or hide that child from the world.

After nine months of anticipation, doctors told Mary Lou Traucht to forget this child, her fourth baby. He’d die by the age of 7, they said, and he’d be a burden.

“They said I’d have to bolt down my lamps because he’d break ’em,” his now 86-year-old mom said. “That he wouldn’t recognize us as mother and father, that he wouldn’t talk or walk.”

Fear was fueled by ignorance. A neighbor asked Mary Lou if she was going to bring her son home and what she would do if he hurt anyone.

The state could not take him for six months. In the meantime, Jimmy would be in the limbo of foster care. Mary Lou quickly realized there was nothing in those places she couldn’t provide her son.

She had to try.

Jimmy came home and went everywhere, from church to the grocery store, where Mary Lou had a pillow in the cart to hold him upright.

In the small town of Painesville, Ohio, he was the first person with Down syndrome many had seen.

His first words, one night at the dinner table, were “want some.” The first time he stood up on his own Mary Lou was in the kitchen.

“I heard the piano keys ‘plink, plink, plink,’” she said. “There was no one else in the house.”
Except Jimmy, whom she found near the piano at 3 years old, holding himself up while tiny fingers played a few notes.

And he’s her only child who never broke a single lamp or piece of furniture.

Mary Lou walked with Jimmy, at 9 years old, sporting a little blue suit into his former doctor’s office. She wanted to tell the man to think twice before repeating what he said to another expectant mother. And she wanted him to meet her son.

“He walked right up and said, ‘Hello doctor, it’s nice to meet you,’”
Mary Lou said. The man almost started to cry.

Read the full story here.

Teens run to support siblings with Down syndrome

from Daily Herald:

Brittany and Lindsey Nolan of Elk Grove Village have performed with their sister, Kelsey, in smash hit musicals, from “High School Musical” to “Grease.”

Kelsey has Down syndrome and she has inspired her older sisters to major in special education in college.

Advertisement  Still, on Sunday, they went the extra mile: Brittany and Lindsey Nolan were among seven siblings of teens with Down syndrome to run in the Chicago Rock ’n’ Roll half marathon.

“I’ve never even run a mile before,” concedes Lindsey, 19, before she started training.

Her sister nods in agreement, adding that they encouraged each other and the other siblings to keep up with their workouts.

“I just want to finish,” said Brittany, 21.

They were among 23 runners in all who competed as part of the Angel Endurance Team, raising money for the Schaumburg-based United Parents Support for Down syndrome, or “UPS for DownS.”

The organization offers support, education and encouragement for families that have children with Down syndrome. Their mission is to share their potential and abilities to the wider community.

Other siblings who ran included Adam Reninger, 19, of Schaumburg; Carlos Santillan, 19 of Palatine; Frank Cassata, 17 of Arlington Heights; Samantha Shimanek, 19, of Wood Dale; and Kate Ford, 16, of Orland Park.

When asked if they had ever run a half-marathon before, or even a race, they answer with a resounding, “no.”

Yet, just as resolved were they in pointing to the motivating factor that pushed them to train since last January: their love and admiration for siblings with Down syndrome.

“Our siblings have over come a lot of challenges and obstacles in their lives,” Frank Cassata said. “If they can handle that, we can handle 13 miles. No problem.”

They gathered Friday night with well-wishers at a special pre-race pasta party at the Belvedere Banquets in Elk Grove Village.

During an introduction, each runner was awarded a medal and goody bag from their siblings with Down syndrome: Kelsey Nolan, 17; Allie Reninger, 17; Stephanie Santillan, 11; Cristina Cassata, 15; Jacob Shimanek, 15; and Jack Ford, 18.

All of the teen runners said they had watched other participants honored at previous pasta dinners. This year, they resolved to get in the race themselves.

“I’ve done sibling workshops, volunteered at family events and attended lots of other events with UPS for DownS,” Samantha Shimanek said. “But I’ve never done the endurance team. My goal is to run the whole thing.”

Carlos Santillan, who played soccer at Fremd High School before attending Harper College and now DePaul University, said he never ran more than four or five miles during high school practices.

He and Adam Reninger served as counselors over the summer at Camp Soar, or Special Outdoor Adaptive Recreational experience in Williams Bay, Wis. Together, they ran in the mornings to train for their endurance run.

“I’ve only been a member of UPS for DownS for the last five years,” he said. “But I love what they do and I try to participate in as many things as I can.

“But more than that, I wanted to help out,” he adds. “And this was one thing I could do.”

Camp Buddy bridges the gap between school years

from effinghamherald.net:

Brenna Heape’s tiny 7-year-old frame balanced atop two scooter boards as she glided across the floor, pushing and pulling a rope. After a few successful reps her face lit up, and she knew that she’d done well.

As Heape completed the set of therapy during the “motor labs” portion Camp Buddy, her smile was contagious, caught by occupational therapist Melinda Hawkins. Hawkins was holding one end of the rope and encouraging Heape through the exercise, and the two shared a few excited high fives when they finished.

Camp Buddy ended Thursday, after three days last week and three this week at the First Baptist Church of Springfield. The camp, sponsored by the Lowcountry Down Syndrome Society, offers a therapy-based curriculum designed especially for children with Down syndrome.

“It’s amazing,” said Molly Marchese, a founding member of LDSS and proud mother of Ella, 5, who has Down syndrome. “You watch them do something that they couldn’t do last year, and you work hard on it, and then they come back to camp and they’re doing it. So it’s really gratifying for the therapists to see their hard work pay off and for the parents.”

This is the third year that Camp Buddy has been available locally. The camp is intended to bridge the gap between school years so that these children can retain what they’ve learned in school and prepare for the next year.

Marchese said that the camp is also a way to offer essential physical, speech and occupational therapy to children whose parents may not be able to afford such specialized treatment, especially in adverse economic times.

Yet, Ella and the rest of the children continue to make strides. Wednesday morning, Marchese couldn’t contain her emotions at the thought of her husband, Joe, seeing their daughter ride her bike for the first time, a skill she conquered at camp.

“I can’t wait for him to see her ride her bike,” she said. “He’s going to be floored. But you take it for granted, you know; you think all kids know how to ride a bike.… You’re so proud of them. You love all your children; you’re so proud of all of their accomplishments, but to watch them reach a milestone, it’s just overwhelming this joy. They bring so much joy in to your life. To watch them realize they’re accomplishing something, it’s awesome, as a mom.”

Each day the children follow a regimen of therapy with special education teachers, therapists and volunteers. They work their fine, oral and large motor skills while having fun, singing along to music, working on the computer and riding bicycles, something new this year. They practice counting, reading and writing through programs designed specifically for people with delayed learning.

“They can do all of these things,” said Marchese. “It just takes a little extra effort, a little extra work, a little extra patience and time, but they can do the same things that their typical peers can do.”

The LDSS was founded in 2006 by Candy and John Bogardus, who have a 6-year-old daughter, Lainey, with Down syndrome. Candy Bogardus said that she and her husband went looking for a local support system and found the closest groups in Jacksonville and Atlanta.

In addition to Camp Buddy, which accommodates Effingham and Chatham counties, the group provides new parent packets for new parents of children with Down syndrome with information about the genetic chromosomal disease and early intervention therapy.

“When Kristen (Fears) was born, I didn’t know anything about Down syndrome,” LDSS member Wendy Fears said of her daughter. “What you did know was all negative things.”

Fears said that her mother never thought Kristen would be able to read, and that through early intervention and therapy, Kristen is able to play ball and dance at recitals like other children. She said that the expectations of this generation are far beyond those with Down syndrome before them.

“Their quality of life is going to be phenomenal because of things like (Camp Buddy),” said Marchese. “They’re going to be productive members of the community and they already are.”
The group also sponsors a Night of Champions award banquet, honoring businesses that employ people with disabilities and those employees.

“Our whole goal with that is to recognize that these people are making a difference,” said Bogardus, also secretary of LDSS, “and we invite other businesses to show them how they could become a part of that difference.”

Marchese said that the LDSS, while still only able to offer Camp Buddy to school age children, hopes that as the Buddy Walk grows, more people will offer to run camps for teenagers and adults with Down syndrome, catering to those needs.

Bogardus said: “We just want to, at this stage, help (our children) to be as successful as possible as they get older and to realize that they don’t have to place any limits on themselves. By doing that, we help the community to not want to place limits on them, because that’s another goal of ours is the community awareness that our children are just children and people with Down syndrome are just people.”

Music From The Heart

Darius Rucker and 25 participants in last year's ACM Lifting Lives Music Camp program will perform "Music From the Heart" during a special segment of the 46th annual Academy of Country Music Awards show taking place Sunday (April 3) in Las Vegas.


The music camp, one of the ACM's charitable endeavors, is attended by young people with developmental disabilities. The campers wrote the song last summer with songwriters Brett James and Chris Young. Julianne Hough will introduce the segment supporting Nashville's Vanderbilt Kennedy Center in its efforts to help make positive differences in the lives of families dealing with developmental disabilities. For the past six years, the center has hosted a music camp for people with Williams Syndrome, autism and other developmental disabilities.


Viewers may make a donation of their choice to the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center by dialing 1-888-9-LIFTING or make a $5 donation by texting DREAM to 27722. All proceeds will benefit the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center. CBS will broadcast the ACM Awards from the MGM Grand Hotel at 8 p.m. ET/PT.