Missing Westford Academy student found

 

from the Wicked Local Westford with news from the Westford Eagle:

A missing Westford Academy senior with Down syndrome, who had been missing since this morning, has been found safe on Starr Circle, near the intersection of Robinson Road.

Rebecca Campbell, a senior, went missing this morning around 9:30 a.m. after being spotted in Westford Academy’s Bell lobby, an area inside the school where students gather before and after classes, according to Superintendent Everett V. Olsen.

Westford Police Provisional Captain Mark Chambers said at the scene that Campbell was being reunited with her mother around 1 p.m.

A condition of the child was unavailable as of 1:15 p.m.

At the scene, the woman who identified herself earlier as Campbell’s mother, was seen hugging people. There was a sense of relief among a group of officers in uniform and officials in regular street clothes.

An ambulance was sitting on Starr Road with its lights flashing.

As of noon, the North Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (NEMLEC), a State Police helicopter, Westford police and Olsen were on the scene. A woman, who identified herself as Campbell’s mother, was also on the grounds but declined to comment.
Police searched surrounding roads that abut the Patten Road high school, including the areas of Forge Village Road and Country Road. A portion of the woods behind the school was also being searched by police, which connects to the Robinson and Crisafulli elementary schools.
According to a reverse 911 call from Westford police, Campbell was wearing a red plaid shirt, tan pants, and gold socks when she was last seen. She has blonde hair.
Students were systematically released between 11:30 a.m. and noon Thursday in small groups from Westford Academy. Those who drove were escorted to their cars. Police searched car trunks earlier this morning in the school’s parking lot before anyone was able to leave.
A school official in the main office said the students were released in order to accomodate a police search of the building.
Sophomore Jackie Joncas said that she and fellow sophomore Owen Martel had been part of the systematic release this morning.
“They were escorting us to our cars and letting us walk home,” she said.
The two students said they live a block away from the school and planned to walk home.
Check back for updates as they become available.

Read more: http://www.wickedlocal.com/westford/news/x1391861128/Down-syndrome-student-missing-from-Westford-Academy#ixzz2VTH5YxtL
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Vallejo woman determined to be healthy, loses 200 pounds

by Irma Widjojo from the Times-Herald:
Gone are the days of super burritos, pepperoni pizzas and cheese nachos.
Angelique Nabours went from 324 pounds to just a little more than 130 within a few years. The 39-year-old woman was born with Down Syndrome and had a lifelong weight problem -- until a few years ago when she had a seizure. "That really scared me," her mother Anne Nabours said. "We are still not sure what caused the seizure, but her weight had a lot to do with it." Angelique then moved into a major lifestyle change, including starting a diet and exercise regimen. In a little less than two years, she has lost nearly 200 pounds. "I work out every day," she said. "I feel fine, and I have more energy." The Vallejo woman works out either at the gym, or at home on her cardio machines while watching her favorite daytime talk show, the Ellen DeGeneres Show. In fact, Anne Nabours had the idea to call the Times-Herald about her daughter's journey after a comment she had made while watching a recent episode of the popular show. Angelique was exercising on her Air Walk when the show was featuring a winner of the popular weight-loss competition show "The Biggest Loser" who had lost about 100 pounds. "She stopped dead in her tracks and said, 'Hey, what about me?! Check it out!' " Anne Nabours said. "And I thought, that's right. She does deserve recognition." Anne Nabours said their goal was to get Angelique to 140 pounds. She reached the goal about a year ago, lost a little more, and has never weighed more than 140 since.
"She's such an inspiration," her mother said. "What's amazing is that she's doing it all on her own, and she keeps (the weight) off. It's her own determination." Angelique Nabours also meets regularly with a nutrition management consultant from Kaiser Permanente Vallejo Medical Center. She said she misses all of her favorite foods, which have now been replaced by vegetables, fruit and other healthier choices. "I still like them, but I know they are bad for me," she said. However, she's more excited about her whole new wardrobe. Due to her weight loss, she dropped 16 dress sizes and is now a size 10. "I can now wear cute, skinny clothes," she said. Her healthy habits also affected her parents. "I used to be a smoker, and I had to quit. That was hard," her father Ed Nabours said. "But what she's doing is ever harder." Angelique Nabours' simple advice to other people trying to lose weight is: "Don't give up." Contact staff writer Irma Widjojo at (707)553-6835 or iwidjojo@timesheraldonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @IrmaVTH.

public raido segment on prenatal choices

from Public Raido Tulsa by Ari Shapiro:
And finally, we received a lot of emails about our segment on the difficult prenatal choices people make when they learn that a fetus may have a genetic abnormality. We spoke with two women, one who decided to carry her pregnancy to term, and another who terminated the pregnancy after learning of an abnormality.
Christian writes: My husband and I had genetic testing done with our first pregnancy because my test came up at an elevated risk for Down Syndrome, even though I was only 26 at the time. His first child from a prior marriage is severely developmentally disabled. When we learned our child would be born with Down Syndrome, we terminated the pregnancy, because it didn't seemed fair to bring a second special needs child into the family when there was no way of knowing how functional the baby would be, she writes.
Another listener, Lauren, shares her experience, writing: Today's show hits incredibly close to home. Six weeks ago, my husband and I went in for an ultrasound. Doctors proceeded to tell me about a heart defect they'd noticed in my son's ultrasound. They then continued to tell me how the defect is quite common in children with Down Syndrome. One week after the ultrasound, I got a call from the maternal fetal specialist saying the results from a test came back and were consistent with Down Syndrome.
Lauren writes that she plans to go through with the pregnancy, and she continues: The hardest part for us is still dealing with other people's reactions from hearing, bummer, we'd really hope for better for you to, you'll never be able to have time alone in retirement, or raising a child with special needs will bankrupt you as they reach adulthood. It's very hard to deal with loved ones whose opinions and outlook are openly pessimistic, she writes. For us, besides the fear of the unknown - open-heart surgery on an infant, raising a child with special needs - the fear of the familial negativity and distance is much greater.
Our address is: talk@npr.org. Please let us know where you're writing from and give us some help on how to pronounce your name. And if you're on Twitter, you can follow the show there @totn. I'm @arishapiro.

Memory training study points to possible benefits for children with Down syndrome

A study, conducted by researchers at Down Syndrome Education International and published today in the American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, suggests that adaptive working memory training might offer sustained benefits for young people with Down syndrome.

People with Down syndrome tend to be more limited in their abilities to store and manipulate information over short periods of time (short term and working memory) than other people.

These memory systems impact many areas of learning, including the acquisition of vocabulary, grammar and reading skills. Improving short term and working memory function might therefore be expected to have important consequences for educational outcomes.

Studies published in recent years suggest that computerised adaptive working memory training may improve memory function for children with relatively limited working memory skills.

DSE therefore set out to explore if similar results might be achieved for children with Down syndrome by conducting a randomized controlled trial of Cogmed Working Memory Training with children with Down syndrome aged between 7 and 12 years.

The study was funded by The Baily Thomas Charitable Fund and Down Syndrome Education International, and the findings are published today in the American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

We found that children who undertook 25 session of computerized memory training, on average, achieved important gains in visuospatial short term memory and visuospatial working memory, compared to children not undertaking training.

This study suggests that adaptive working memory training could be a practical and useful intervention for children with Down syndrome. However, further research is required to confirm this. Future research is needed to explore if memory training can deliver improvements in verbal as well as visuospatial memory, and (importantly) if these gains subsequently lead to improvements in language, literacy and wider academic skills.

• Read more about the trial...

Use this link for a free trial of the memory training software mentioned above from DSE and Pearson Education (click here)

teen teaches kids with Down syndrome how to have tutu much fun dancing

from Moultrie news:

During the weeks of July 29 and Aug. 5, elementary and middle school aged children with Down syndrome are invited to ballet workshops through the not-for-profit, The Purple Tutu.

The mission of The Purple Tutu is to bring the beauty and artistry of ballet to dancers with Down Syndrome who may feel that classical dance training is out of their reach. The first workshop held in April was a huge success. A dancer’s grandmother said “I cried after attending the first class, cried “happy tears” because I was just overcome seeing the joy on the children’s faces and overcome with gratitude for The Purple Tutu”.

Students will be accepted on a first come / first serve basis. Each class will be taught at Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Church. Classes will start at 9 a.m. and be built around attendance. Classes are at no charge, but donations are appreciated. All proceeds generated by The Purple Tutu will go to a scholarship fund to benefit the education of a child with special needs.

Participants are encouraged to wear sweatpants/yoga pants, a T-shirt and bare feet. Tutus will be provided for class use.

Holland McDowell, who founded The Purple Tutu, began her formal dance training at age 7 with Charleston Ballet Theatre School and has been dancing for nine years. McDowell is trained in classical ballet, pointe, jazz, tap and musical theatre. She has performed in productions including: Charleston Ballet Theatre’s “The Nutcracker,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “Cinderella,” “Off to Oz,” “Willie Wonka” and “Alice in Wonderland.” She attended The South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities Summer Dance 2012 program.

McDowell currently studies under the direction of the Charleston Dance Institute, teaches ballet to children at Meeting Street Academy and attends the Academic Magnet High School (Class of 2015.)

If you would like to participate with the program or donate to The Purple Tutu, please email thepurpletutuballet@gmail.com.