Man with Down Syndrome Raises American Flag

A belated Independence Day posting!

AMHERST, Ohio - This morning, like every morning, John Hall wakes up earlier than the rest of his household, puts on his Marine dress blues and marches an American flag out to the flagpole in his Amherst front yard. Carefully, with the delicacy and proper attention that a true serviceman could afford, he raises this American symbol into the sky.

Except Hall isn’t a Marine. The Ohio native is a lifelong appreciator of the American military and a lover of the symbol of America: the American flag. Born with Down syndrome, Hall has found an alternative to going abroad to serve his country by honoring his country in his own home.

“You’ll watch him from the window, and he’ll march exactly like a real Marine, even when no one else is around,” older sister Joyce Cooper said.

Hall has been taking care of the flag for years, even before he had his Marine uniform. He performed the ritual with his father, Charles Hall, a WWII Navy veteran, before the elder Hall died a few years ago. John Hall now continues the tradition solo.

“He’s very proud of that - he’ll say ‘My daddy was in the Navy,’ ” Cooper said. John Hall has always loved everything military-related, but began dressing in uniform more consistently in honor of his father.

Baseball Team for Children with Developmental Disabilitites Celebrates Season

BRAINTREE, Mass. - Nine years ago, Richie Fennell was playing baseball in Norwood with other children with developmental disabilities and looking for a league closer to his hometown of Weymouth.

So Richie and his mother Laurie, along with other volunteers, created Challenger Baseball in Braintree, which has grown from just a handful of teams and players to more than 120 kids and 10 squads over the past eight years. On Sunday night, all 10 took to Hollingsworth Park to play their final games of the season and take home trophies.

Richie, who has autism, is now 18 years old, a first-year Challenger coach and a high school graduate, planning to attend Cape Cod Community College in the fall with a focus on environmental studies.

"We have come a long way from two teams," he said before the final game on Sunday.

After playing in the league since it began, Richie said he wanted to contribute his knowledge of the game to younger players, and will likely coach at least one more season with the Dodgers.

"They have a blast," he said. "It's good to watch."

Cheerleaders Root on Children with Down Syndrome

BARRINGTON, Ill.-- For three weeks, Barrington High School’s cheerleaders have been teaching different routines to young girls with Down syndrome, but it has been the varsity squad that has been learning a thing or two from the kids.

“(Gigi’s Gems) have given us a different prospective,” Alexa Hanaford said of working with the aspiring girls with Down syndrome who are a part of Gigi’s Playhouse. “Their outlook is so different, and they are always so happy.”

“It’s been awesome and the whole experience has been unbelievable,” Melissa Mersch, one of the many co-coaches and varsity cheerleaders working with the young girls said. “Everything is just so positive when you are around them.”

Girl Scouts Redecorate Home of Men with Down Syndrome

UNION GROVE, Wis.- Rudy Garcia loves pencils. There's just something about them.

Garcia, who is 58, has Down syndrome and the mental age of a 3- to 5-year-old. He carries pencils with him all the time. He twirls them in his hand, taps them on nearby surfaces and sneaks them into his pockets.

So this weekend when a Waterford troop of high school-aged Girl Scouts performed a makeover of the home where Garcia lives, they made sure pencils were part of his bedroom design. The girls mounted a custom-made 6-foot tall pencil on one wall and arranged new packs of pencils on the bed.

When Garcia saw them Sunday during a makeover reveal, his face formed an "oh" of surprise, then a wide smile.

"Nice work," he told the girls, already ripping into the new pencil packages.

Children's Lemonade Stand Supports Boy with Down Syndrome

A very sweet community effort!

WELLINGTON, Kan. — Every little bit helps, when a family is going through tough times. One group of children is helping out with a lemonade stand at 708 S. Washington Ave., in Wellington. Proceeds are going towards helping out a local family whose six-month old was diagnosed with Down Syndrome.

"Shortly after he was born he was diagnosed with Down Syndrome," said Dana Lago, about her son Aaron. "We've gotten really involved with the Down Syndrome Society since then."
Since being born, Aaron has had multiple operations.

"He's gone through open heart surgeries and stomach surgeries," Lago said. "And pretty much helping raise money to support him, and children just like him." The kids working the lemonade stand said it's been a good day, having sold a lot of lemonade, and received a good amount of donations to the Down Syndrome Society.

Autism's First Child

An older piece, but recently came up on The Atlantic's list of "Fantastic Pieces of Journalism." A fascinating story, definitely deserving of the ranking!

FOREST, Miss.- As new cases of autism have exploded in recent years--some form of the condition affects about one in 110 children today--efforts have multiplied to understand and accommodate the condition in childhood. But children with autism will become adults with autism, some 500,000 of them in this decade alone. What then? Meet Donald Gray Triplett, 77, of Forest, Mississippi. He was the first person ever diagnosed with autism. And his long, happy, surprising life may hold some answers.

Vermont Ranks No. 1 in Medicaid Services

Vermont offers the best Medicaid services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities while Mississippi provides the worst, according to an annual ranking released Thursday.
The 50-state analysis from United Cerebral Palsy compares services offered across the country, giving preference to states where more individuals are served in the community as opposed to institutions.

Learning Life Skills While Helping Others

TUMWATER, Wash. – They emptied garbage bags filled with plaid dress shirts, hooded sweatshirts, jeans, sweaters, mittens and various other clothing items.
White, gray and khaki clothes went on one table. Medium colors, including blue, red and orange, went on another. Dark clothes, mostly black and brown, were separated into a third pile.
Tenth-grader Michael Berman, 16, asked about dark-green clothes. After all, they aren’t a medium color, but they aren’t as dark as black or brown, either.
And that’s when he and his classmates in Tumwater High School’s Life Skills class learned about one of the universal mysteries in laundry – right up there with disappearing socks. Sometimes, a color can go in either pile; it’s a judgment call.
Life Skills is designed to help special-education students learn daily tasks, such as riding a bus and household chores, according to teacher Elaine Robertson.