2013 Canadian Down Syndrome Conference: A Review

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I was given the opportunity to go to this year’s Canadian Down Syndrome Conference.  It is a very important event for everyone in the Down syndrome community. I was very happy to attend and speak at the conference. I was a part of the Endnote session, presenting with VATTA. I was not nervous, just proud and excited.

I also got to attend some of the conference sessions. My favorite session was “Celebrating What We Got” with Chris Hamilton and the Good Buddies Blues Band. I also got to attend VATTA Night with Lauren Potter. This was really great and I got to meet her and listen to her speak. I had fun that night and all of the teens and self-advocates had a grand time hanging out together.

I also finally got to meet all the other members of VATTA. Everyone did a great job at the Endnote, but my favorite speech was Janet Charchuk’s. I found her speech very inspirational. She told us that if we believe in ourselves and work hard we can do what we want to do for our lives. At the end of her speech Janet got everyone to stand up and yell “See the Ability”. I really liked this part and so did everyone else. Good job Janet!

I felt proud after giving my speech and it made me happy to hear everyone clapping for me. I even got asked to sign some autographs!

I also had a lot of fun attending the banquet. I got to dance and enjoy some time with my coworkers. I liked being there and I enjoyed it very much.

I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish all this without the support I got from my parents, family, my coworkers at CDSS, and all of you. I look forward to doing more public speaking!

See the Ability!
From Paul Sawka

PS: Here are some of my favourite pictures from the conference. Enjoy:

An open letter to Premier Redford

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Hello Premier Redford,

My name is Paul Sawka. I am the Awareness Leader at the Canadian Down Syndrome Society. CDSS began in Calgary in 1987 and has been part of the Alberta community ever since.

I have accomplished a lot of great things in my life, but I could not have done it without the help of my family, friends, and support workers.

On behalf of the Canadian Down Syndrome Society, I want to talk to you about how important it has been to have support through the Persons with Developmental Disabilities (PDD) program. I am one of the many people in Alberta who has benefited from PDD support. Through PDD, I am able to have support workers.

It is very important for me to have support workers to help me. I have three support workers. One helps me at work, and two help me with my personal life.

One place I really appreciate their support is with my sports. Without my support workers to help me get to where I need to go I might not be able to play Special Olympics sports or swim on the Calgary Dolphins swim team. Playing sports is good for my health and also gives me an opportunity to be part of a team. I have met many friends playing sports. The friendships I have made through my activities are very important to me and I would be very sad if I was no longer able to be a part of these activities.

I also have a support worker who helps me at my job. I would not be able to do my job without support. She comes to the Canadian Down Syndrome Society office to help me with my work tasks.

By having help at work I am able to hold a job and make money to support myself. I was even able to move out on my own. I am very proud that I can afford to live in my own apartment. I pay taxes, like everyone else. I contribute to society and to Alberta’s growth.

If my supports were taken away because there was not enough funding my life would change a lot. I would be stuck living with my parents and I likely wouldn’t have the great job that I have. I also would probably not be able to play sports and have the friendships that I have. I would be very sad if these things were to happen.

All the things in my life that I am very proud of would be taken away from me because I wouldn’t have the help I need to accomplish them. Losing my support would change my life negatively but it would be worse for many other people with disabilities.

I am lucky because I am capable of many things. I went to university and I got a job. I know how to take public transportation. I can accomplish great things but I still need some help sometimes. There are many other people with disabilities who would have a much harder time accomplishing all that I have or are unable to accomplish those things. If those people lose their funding they would not have any way to get money and support themselves. I think the government would be wrong to take away funding because we need the money to have our own lives.

I hope you listen to what I have said. A lot of people are speaking out about this important issue and as a self-advocate working at the Canadian Down Syndrome Society, I am able to represent people with Down syndrome.

I am proud to give voice to Albertans with developmental disabilities.

Thank you for your time,

Paul Sawka

Watch a video excerpt:

Paul has graduated from Columbia College!

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IMG_9896-smI am proud to be graduated from Columbia College. It feels very good to be graduated and to be working for the Canadian Down Syndrome Society. I am happy I went to Columbia College because they found me my job here at CDSS.

It was hard work to get to college but once I was in college I enjoyed the work I got to do. I also got to have paying jobs while in college and I enjoyed this. I had to get education before I could work for an organization like CDSS.

When I graduated I had the privilege of being the valedictorian. I felt very proud to speak on behalf of my graduating class. I was not nervous at all to make my speech at my graduation. I was very excited to make my speech and I was very proud they chose me to be the valedictorian.

In my speech I wanted to let people know that people with Down syndrome can fulfill their dreams and do what they want to do in their lives. People with Down syndrome can go to school or College and they can graduate. They can do anything they want to do in their life. This is the message I wanted to get across to teenagers with Down syndrome; if you put your mind to it and work hard you can achieve great things like me.

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Join me at the Canadian Down Syndrome Conference

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Winnipeg-ConferenceCoverThe Canadian Down Syndrome Conference brings together experts who have important information about Down syndrome. These experts come to share the information they have about health care, research, education and advocacy. This conference is for people with Down syndrome, their families and anyone who wants to learn more about Down syndrome. This year’s conference is May 17th to May 19th in Winnipeg. This conference is very important because it helps teach people about Down syndrome and promotes advocacy.

 

Me and my girlfriend Brenda at the 2011 Canadian Down Syndrome Conference in Vancouver

Me and my girlfriend Brenda at the 2011 Canadian Down Syndrome Conference in Vancouver

I will be at the conference with my co-workers from CDSS. VATTA will also be at the conference. I will be presenting the Endnote at this year’s conference with VATTA. My speech will be about Down syndrome, my life and what we do at the Canadian Down Syndrome Society. I will be helping VATTA by spreading advocacy and awareness about Down syndrome. I am honored to be attending the conference and I will be speaking at the Endnote session.

I am also looking forward to attending the break-out sessions. A break-out session is an educational session lead by an expert. In these break-out sessions I will be learning about Down syndrome. I am also excited to go to the conference to meet new people with Down syndrome and also to party!

See you there! Register at www.downsyndromeconference.ca

Response: Police treatment of people with Down syndrome

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On January 12, 2013, an American man with Down syndrome named Robert Ethan Saylor died after police tried to remove him from a theatre. Security was called when the man did not want to leave the theatre or buy another ticket to see the same movie again. According to reports, off-duty policemen treated him with unnecessary force and he was killed. The way the police treated this man is not the way to treat anyone – not just people with Down syndrome.

I think a better way to deal with this situation would have been if the police talked to him. I think that police should have made sure he understood the situation better before they used force. This man probably did not want to hurt anyone and so he didn’t need to be treated so roughly. I think if police had more information on how to work with people with disabilities this situation could have been avoided.

The Canadian Down Syndrome Society is happy to educate all interested police groups about Down syndrome. By doing this, CDSS hopes they can help police to deal with these situations better so that this circumstance can be avoided in the future.

I would also like to say that everyone at CDSS is thinking of the Saylor family and we would like to offer them our deepest condolences for their loss.

For the Canadian Down Syndrome Society’s full statement click here.