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Photo by Eunice Pais on Canva/Photo by Olena Bohovyk on Canva

Powerful ad shows people with Down syndrome taking control

There can be nothing more frustrating than someone assuming that you don't know how to do something. Oftentimes this occurs for reasons like your gender or age. Someone may assume a petite woman wouldn't know how to fix a car or can't lift something heavy, while someone else may believe that a child can't read a book above their grade level.

These small assumptions not only put people in a box unintentionally, but it can also be sexism, ageism and ableism when it happens to people who are physically or developmentally delayed. An ad put together by CoorDown for World Down Syndrome Day on March 21, tackles the assumptions placed on people with Down syndrome.

People that have Down syndrome are often treated much younger than what they are, even if developmentally they're closer to their numerical age. They even face these misconceptions when it comes to seeking medical treatment, with doctors treating them like children. That's why the CoorDown ad is so powerful. It challenges those misconceptions and inherent biases.


Starring in the commercial is Madison Tevlin, an actor with Down syndrome that stars in the comedy Champions with Woody Harrelson. The ad starts out with Tevlin sitting at a bar as her voiceover says, "hey bartender, you assume that I cannot drink a margarita. So you don't serve me a margarita," as the bartender slides her a colorful soda pop with a straw. 'So I don't drink a margarita. Your assumption becomes reality."

Tevlin goes through different scenarios that point out assumptions being made about her capabilities. Parents who don't think their child with Down syndrome can move out. Teachers who think they can't learn more complicated pieces of literature, with the main point of the commercial being to stop limiting the realities of people who have Down syndrome by making assumptions. People under the video applauded CoorDown for the reminder that people of differing abilities can do all sorts of things if given the chance and appropriate support.

"Nailed it! Let's get beyond thinking it's great that people with developmental disabilities are "invited to the table" and support a paradigm where they are the host of that table," one person writes.

"What a fantastic message! We all need to listen to it. Don’t overlook their potential. They will surprise you," someone else says.

"Bravo! Excellent message and the delivery is amazing! I don't have Down syndrome but I am Autistic, so I have been exposed to so many parents who hold their children back with low expectations," another shares.

One teacher wants to show the commercial to her class but there's an F bomb at the end, so she will have to wait for the censored version. Overall the reaction was nothing but positive and you can watch the incredible ad below.

Cities are starting to ban plastic straws in an effort to minimize waste. Great news, right?

Well, that depends.

Nobody likes waste, but sometimes in our rush to eliminate it, we don't think through the consequences of our actions. Take, for example, the push to ban plastic straws.


As of July 1, restaurants in Seattle are banned from giving customers non-recyclable plastic utensils or straws. Restaurants can still provide customers with a number of durable or compostable utensils or straws upon request.

Other cities that have banned or restricted the use of straws include Edmonds, Washington; Miami Beach and Fort Myers Beach, Florida; Monmouth Beach, New Jersey; and a slew of California towns including Alameda, Berkeley, Carmel, Davis, Malibu, Manhattan Beach, Oakland, Richmond, and San Luis Obispo.

[rebelmouse-image 19346017 dam="1" original_size="750x436" caption="Photo by Ayotunde Oguntoyinbo/Unsplash." expand=1]Photo by Ayotunde Oguntoyinbo/Unsplash.

But for some people, the disappearance of plastic straws is really bad news.

Flexible, single-use plastic straws are what make it possible for many disabled people to drink beverages. Eliminating them means requiring people to drink directly from the lip of their cup — a function that many disabled people simply aren't able to perform.

Many have suggested commonsense alternatives to plastic straws, like paper or metal ones. But in an interview with iNews, Scottish disability rights activist Jamie Szymkowiak explained exactly why popular alternatives don't meet the needs of some disabled individuals.

Permanent straw options, like metal or bamboo, are too hard for some people who rely on the flexibility of a plastic straw. (Injury is also a risk.) Biodegradable paper straws have a tendency to disintegrate when placed into heated drinks — which can pose a hazard of its own — and porous silicone straws require cleaning immediately after use.

Some might ask why people who need access to old-school plastic straws don't just purchase and bring their own wherever they go.

And sure, that is technically a solution. But making disabled people pay for something that's available to everyone else for free is a type of tax. While it's not necessarily an expensive tax, these types of things add up, and implementing a policy that makes the simple act of drinking prohibitive to certain groups sets a bad precedent.

[rebelmouse-image 19346018 dam="1" original_size="750x437" caption="Photo by Horia Varlan/Wikimedia Commons." expand=1]Photo by Horia Varlan/Wikimedia Commons.

The real problem is that cities considering restrictions simply aren't taking disabled voices into account.

Gabrielle Peters, a disabled writer living in Vancouver, has been keeping tabs on her city's plans to ban straws. What's concerning to her is that even after disability advocates presented information to elected officials, she felt their concerns were largely ignored.

Also troubling to Peters is the fact that the specific push to ban straws appears to be driven by a viral video about a turtle with a straw stuck in its nostril rather than on researched facts and statistics.

"We should feel compelled to act," she says. "But it is essential we temper our emotional response with considered thought so we don't respond in a way that ends up doing something that causes additional, different, and potentially more widespread suffering."

Peters' solution is simple: "People who don’t need straws should not use them. People who do should."

"We need to make straws accessible to those who need them," she says. "Don't turn them into a medical item, which will negatively affect availability and lead to increased expense and stigma."

As someone with dysphagia, a condition marked by a difficulty swallowing, Peters has at points relied on straws to avoid burns, broken glasses, and spilled drinks. (She's careful to note, though, that straws won't necessarily help all people with dysphagia.)

"Our solutions and adaptations are not something you can neatly chart. We figure out what works for our bodies AND our lives," she says.

In this case, that might mean people who don't need straws voluntarily choosing not to use them while also letting them remain available for those who do.

This photo shows an injured Marine, but it's important to remember that disability takes many forms and isn't necessarily something the average observer can see in someone else. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images.

It's important to look clearly at a problem before jumping to a  "solution" that doesn't actually make sense.

Maybe a plastic straw ban wouldn't personally affect you; maybe it seems like a small price to pay if it has a big impact on improving the health of the world's oceans. But here's the thing: It doesn't!

What makes the entire debate over straws that much more confusing is the fact that disposable straws don't actually contribute much to the abundance of plastic waste relative to other items in the ocean. So by proposing a ban on them, we're asking disabled people to sacrifice a lot in order to gain just a little in the fight for environmental health. And by doing that, we're demonstrating a frightening lack of empathy.

As a society, we are far too quick to write off the concerns of marginalized groups as insignificant or inconvenient.

The next time someone comes to you with a concern, especially if it relates to inclusion or accessibility, try to make a real effort to actually hear what they have to say, and then maybe ask yourself why something like banning a plastic straw is so important to you, anyway.

If we can't take care of each other, we can't take care of the earth. So let's start there.

Shopping for that perfect outfit can be an ordeal. But for a lot of disabled people, it can be downright hellish.

In fact, many folks will opt to shop online because of the inaccessibility and ableism they often encounter in-store.

In 2014, Trailblazers, UK-based disability rights campaign, interviewed a group of 100 disabled people between the ages of 16 and 30. According to the report, three-quarters of the respondents said they feel coerced into shopping online due to the limited accessibility at stores. In fact, two-thirds said that a place's physical accessibility determines whether they will visit it or go somewhere else.


But it's not just accessibility that makes a shopping experience unpleasant for disabled: About half of respondents say retail workers' attitudes dissuade them from returning to a store.

Millions of people around the world are physically disabled, which deserves better attention and awareness.

On June 26, Frances Ryan, a disability rights journalist, took to Twitter to address some of the obstacles people with disabilities deal with just to go shopping. "What would make clothes shopping more accessible for you?" she asked. "Are there any shops you particularly love for getting it right?"

Her tweet received hundreds of replies. Here's a few of their suggestions:

1. Make fitting rooms accessible.

A lot of disabled people either use wheelchairs and/or need a relative or caretaker to help them try on clothes. Larger fitting rooms would give the space they need to figure out whether that sundress or trousers are worth buying.

In addition to creating more space, some simple adjustments could also be made: hooks to hang canes on, grab bars, and/or more seats, to help prevent toppling over when trying on things like jeans.

2. Lower the checkout counter.

High checkout counters can make a simple purchase extremely difficult for wheelchair users. Some stores have recognized this issue and made adjustments: The UK clothing company Primark, for example, offers a checkout counter for disabled shoppers.

3. Keep the sales floor clear of clothes or accessories.

This is something able-bodied shoppers and retail workers can help out with. If the floor's covered with dropped clothes or boxes of product, it gets in the way of shoppers who use wheelchairs, canes, motorized shopping carts, or any other mobility device. That's an added — and completely unnecessary — hassle.

4. Offering at-home try-ons for online shoppers.

Making online purchases can be anything but fruitful, since clothes often fit awkwardly or are the wrong size altogether. The return process can be hectic and stressful, too, when there are limited time periods for returns and refunds.

One way retailers can minimize this frustration is to follow MM.LaFleur's example: Ship items for an in-home try-on before purchasing.

5. Include disabled models in advertisements and online stores.

While inclusivity is important, featuring both ambulatory and wheelchair-using disabled models provides a realistic depiction of the items available for purchase. Beyonce's "Formation" athleisure line featured a wheelchair user in her online store — that's how it's done.

6. Offer more detailed descriptions of items.

Many blind and low-vision people navigate the internet using text-to-speech apps or screen readers. Providing more details — from the specific color to the style of a dress — would allow them to make more well-informed and accurate purchases.

These are just a few ways that stores can make shopping a little bit easier for disabled shoppers.

But the onus is not just on companies and retail workers. It's easy for able-bodied people to take the little things for granted, but speaking up and advocating for accessibility is something that we should all take part in.

Whether that's by writing letters to theaters to screen movies with subtitles or suggesting a store manager add seating and grab bars in the fitting rooms, every bit of help can go a long way.

I know I've said things to my daughter about her anxiety that were immensely unhelpful.

And though I've apologized, I cringe thinking about how many more times she's going to have to hear unintentionally hurtful things about her mental health struggles.

Those of us who don't deal with mental health issues can sometimes stick our collective foot in our mouth. Big time.


It's only through years of talking about my daughter's experiences and observing it firsthand that I've learned how little I understood about mental illness. I've seen how well-meaning comments can totally miss the mark and how alienating such comments can be for those on the receiving end.

Lifestyle reporter Hattie Gladwell created a hashtag — #ThingsPeopleHaveSaidAboutMyMentalIllness — to highlight some of the ridiculous things people say to those struggling with mental health issues.

Gladwell posted a tweet asking people to share the most unhelpful or insensitive thing people have said about their mental illness, starting with her own example:

1. "One person told me I didn't need medication, I just needed to be more motivated."

The responses are incredibly telling of just how many misconceptions there are about mental illness.

2. "You don't look like you're mentally ill."

[rebelmouse-image 19532950 dam="1" original_size="602x219" caption="Image via That Girl With BPD/Twitter." expand=1]Image via That Girl With BPD/Twitter.

Because you can see inside someone's mind with your eyeballs? What?

3. "When you have a job and a family, all these thoughts will disappear."

[rebelmouse-image 19532951 dam="1" original_size="575x240" caption="Image via Elle/Twitter." expand=1]Image via Elle/Twitter.

I am 100% certain that adding a job and a family on top of mental health issues is not a cure. For real.

4. "You have too much money to have anything wrong with you."

[rebelmouse-image 19532952 dam="1" original_size="599x189" caption="Image via Alice/Twitter." expand=1]Image via Alice/Twitter.

Mental illness crosses all economic lines. You can't necessarily buy your way out of it.

5. "There is nothing wrong with you."

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First, do you tell people with a missing limb that they're faking it and trying to get attention?

And second, depression isn't a contagious disease. For the love of...

6. "Weren't you taking meds?"

[rebelmouse-image 19532954 dam="1" original_size="601x332" caption="Image via Anne Greif/Twitter." expand=1]Image via Anne Greif/Twitter.

When it comes to medication and mental illness, you can't win for losing. People will tell you that you don't need meds. Then they'll tell you that you do need them. Then they'll question why you haven't miraculously been cured by them already.

People need to understand that medication is a management tool, not a cure-all, and that finding the right medication is like solving a complex puzzle with lots of moving parts. (Not to mention the struggle of finding the right therapist.)

7. "Have you tried praying away your depression?"

Image via Alisa/Twitter​.

We don't tell people to pray away diabetes or heart disease or a broken bone. It makes just as little sense to tell someone to pray away their mental illness.

8. "So you're just superstitious?"

Image via Lydia/Twitter​​.

It's natural for people to try to relate with things they can understand, but making reaches such as these is just silly.

All of us have felt nervous, but that doesn't mean we truly understand clinical anxiety. All of us have felt down, but that doesn't mean we understand clinical depression.

9. "Have you ever thought about how there are people who have it much worse than you do?"

Image via Mika/Twitter​.

Mental illness is not a product of selfishness. We can acknowledge and empathize with others while also going through our own stuff at the same time.

10. "It's attention seeking."

Image via Juliette Burton/Twitter​.

A cornucopia of insensitivity!

But seriously, "I wish I was anorexic"? No, you really, really, really don't.

11. "Positive thinking is the key to battling depression."

(sigh) ... Sometimes truly all you can do is respond with sarcasm: #LiterallyNeverOccurredToMe.

The responses to this hashtag hold an important message: We all need to better our understanding of what people with mental health issues have to deal with all the time.

I'm not an innocent party here. I know I've said things that were unhelpful, and though it was always from a place of caring and concern, that intent didn't trump the impact of my words.

It's hard to understand something you've never experienced. And we need to acknowledge the fact that people with mental illnesses are experiencing something those of us without mental illnesses can't completely relate to.

But that doesn't mean we can't do our best to find out what actually is helpful to say.

Often times, a simple, empathetic, "I'm sorry you're going through this" or "Is there anything I can do to help?" — or simply listening without saying anything — is the best thing we can do.

Stigma hurts.

But if we all take time to learn about mental illnesses we don't understand and strive to help those who are struggling to feel supported and loved without judgment or shame, the world will be a kinder place.