and Holland has tulips
Written by John Macpherson
Alyssa © Lani Holmberg
World Down Syndrome Day is the 21st March.
I worked in Disability Services in Social Work for almost 20 years. Many of the people I worked with, and for, lived with Down Syndrome. Some were parents, many were siblings, most were people who have Down Syndrome themselves. I realized very quickly that my preconceptions about the ‘ability’ of people with Down Syndrome were woefully, wildly, inaccurate. At first I was continually surprised by what they could achieve, after all they are so much less able than us, aren’t they?
Until the penny dropped. There was no ‘them’ and ‘us’. The ‘problem’ was me, and my assumptions, my low expectations. I learned fast that ‘disability’ is not inability. Something this man and many others eloquently demonstrated to me.
I learned that there is only us.
If you look at nothing else this week, look at this: And Holland Has Tulips by Lani Holmberg.
It is beautifully realised, illustrated with images that are dignified and deeply affecting. It tells a story, with care, about the considerable amount we all have in common, so much more than those few differences which set some people apart.
This is what multimedia should be all about: informing, entertaining, providing insights, and changing minds. It’s not just a story about Down Syndrome. It is about us. All of us. And simply living.
Author — John Macpherson
John MacPherson was born and lives in the Scottish Highlands. He trained as a welder in the Glasgow shipyards, before completing an apprenticeship as a carpenter, and then qualified as a Social Worker in Disability Services. Along the way he has cooked on canal barges, trained as an Alpine Ski Leader & worked as an Instructor for Skiers with disabilities, been a canoe instructor, and tutor of night classes in carpentry, stained glass design and manufacture, and archery. He has travelled extensively on various continents, undertaking solo trips by bicycle, or motorcycle. He has had narrow escapes from an ambush by terrorists, been hit by lightning, caught in an erupting volcano, trapped in a mobile home by a tornado, kidnapped by a dog's hairdresser, rammed by a basking shark and was once bitten by a wild otter. He has combined all this with professional photography, which he has practised for over 35 years. He teaches photography and acts as a photography guide & tutor in the UK and abroad. His biggest challenge is keeping his 30 year old Land Rover 110 on the road. He loves telling and hearing stories.
Discussion (2 Comments)
Thank you for this. My place of employment, a non profit serving people with developmental disabilities (many with Down Syndrome) failed to make mention it…
Aye I think it’ll slip under the radar for way too many folks. Sadly.