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Fairy Godmother at Disney World perfectly nails ASL for deaf girl, helps her transform into Cinderella

"THIS is inclusion. And it's magical."

partnermouse/Wikipedia (Used with permission)

Fairy Godmother at Disney World perfectly nails ASL for deaf girl, helps her transform into Cinderella

Disney World is a truly magical place for everyone. And for Instagrammer Fallon Brizendine Mowl (@partnermouse), Disney World created the best day ever for her deaf daughter Gisele thanks to a very special ASL (American Sign Language) interpreter named Janie (@jan.i.e).

In a touching video shared by Mowl, she captured a recent trip to Disney World with Gisele for an unforgettable Cinderella experience. There, she met her Fairy Godmother, Janie, who helped her all day long as she transformed into the beautiful Disney princess.

"We asked if any Fairy Godmothers/Apprentices at BBB knew ASL—and we got Janie! Thank you, @jan.i.e and Disney, for making the magic inclusive and our experience not only special but truly seen," she captioned the post.

The video begins with Janie and Gisele meeting for the first time. "Hi Gisele! My name is Janie," she says in ASL. "We are going to play together, okay?"

Gisele tells Janie, "I want to be Cinderella!" And Janie responds, "Oh, I love her!" In the next clip, Janie is with Gisele as she picks out her hairstyle to dress like Cinderella. "Ponytail or flowers? Which do you prefer?" Janie asks her. Gisele would like a long ponytail, and Janie thanks her before leading her to a changing room to try on her powder blue Cinderella gown.

She leads her to a dressing room where Gisele changes into the sparkly gown. Before Janie leaves her, she says Fairy Godmother's iconic phrase in ASL: "Bibbidi, Bobbidi, Boo!"

Once Gisele has changed, it is time for her to get beautified by getting her hair and makeup done. And Janie helps get her set up in a beauty chair to pick her look. "Blue or purple? Do you want a a flower or butterfly?" Janie asks. And Gisele replies, "A flower." Looking on is Gisele's dad, and Janie jokes, "Let's look like your dad! A long beard...kidding!"

With her hair and makeup complete after a sprinkle of glittery fairy dust over her, Gisele's big reveal is done with Janie's help. "Let's close your eyes. I see a beautiful you, wow!" she says to Gisele. Then Janie says to Gisele's mom and dad, "And now...Princess Cinderella!"

Gisele is sitting in the beauty chair, and is turned around to show her proud mom and dad. She is absolutely glowing. In a final clip, she poses in front of Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom dressed as the princess herself. Gisele then says her final goodbyes to Janie with her family, and Janie is overjoyed to have spent the afternoon with them. She signs in ASL, "Thank you!" as the video ends.

And viewers are overflowing with emotions after watching Mowl's video with Gisele. "Why did this make me cry 🥹," one commented, and another added, "I am sobbbbbbbbbing, this is so beautiful! 🥹🥹🥹🥹." Another viewer wrote, "I hope Janie always gets to sleep on the cool side of the pillow. What a gem. I hope your daughter had the best day." And another touched viewer shared, "THIS is inclusion. And it's magical."

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Mom shares the 'palpable' joy her daughter with Down Syndrome has over rare party invite

Her squeals of delight have melted so many hearts.

Photo credit: Canva

Heather Avis said she "could count on one hand" the amount of times her daughter Macy had received party invitations.

Macy Avis, a 9th-grader with Down Syndrome, had a reaction to receiving a birthday party invite that was so pure and joyous that it quickly went viral on Instagram.

Heather Avis, Macy’s mom, wrote in the video’s caption that she could “count on one hand the amount of birthday parties” that Macy had been invited to throughout her childhood.

Understandably, when a friend from Macy’s life skills program handed her an invitation, her joy was “palpable.”


“To me it spoke of a longing fulfilled. All I could do was laugh with her and then cry as I celebrated with her,” Avis wrote.

In the video, we hear the proud mom say, “You got invited to a birthday party?” followed by absolute squeals of delight from Macy.

Watch:

Macy and her mom weren’t the only ones feeling celebratory. So many viewers chimed in to share their own joy at the news, and offer some encouragement.

“Thank you for sharing this wonderful moment with us! I got goosebumps listening to the glee in Macy’s voice. I am so incredibly happy for her and can’t wait to hear all about the amazing time she’s bound to have!” one person wrote.

Another declared, “This is the best thing on the whole internet."

The birthday party invite is the result of Avis’s “fight” to find inclusive spaces for her daughter, a journey she noted has “only just begun” in a pinned Instagram post.

Avis explained up until recently how Macy was in general education, where they had experienced some “amazing inclusive classrooms,” but still overall “felt a longing for belonging.” This led Macy to joining a life skills program with other disabled students, where she has been able to nurture a solid community—complete with birthday invitations.

As for how that party went, this follow-up video speaks for itself:

Along with celebrating Macy’s victory, Avis used the moment to note that “the party was inclusive not because a student in the general education program invited Macy, but because a person with an intellectual disability invited both disabled and non-disabled individuals. It was inclusive because people like Macy and the young man we were celebrating, who are often excluded, truly understand how to include others. Let’s reflect on that for a moment!”

While it’s important that students with Down Syndrome are placed in environments with the resources they need, not including them into the general community doesn’t help break through the stigma they regularly face—including being treated as children even when they are adults, or assuming they are entirely dependent. This was an issue recently tackled in the “Assume I Can” ad starring Madison Tevlin.


Moreover, Avis added that prioritizing diversity and inclusion offers the “beautiful gift” of “recognizing our shared humanity” among those who might at first seem different from us. That’s why she continues advocating for both her daughter and the Down Syndrome community through her The Lucky Few Foundation and podcast.

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Man uses social media to teach others ASL so kids don't experience what he did as a child

Every child should be able to communicate in a way that works best for them.

Daniel Adams|Canva and Crystal Sing|Canva

Man teaches people ASL so no child experiences what he did

People start communicating from the moment they enter the world usually through cries, faces, grunts and squeals. Once infants move into the toddler phase the combine all of their previous communication skills with pointing and saying a few frequently used words like "milk," "mama," "dada" and "eat."

Children who are born without the ability to hear often still go through those same stages with the exception of their frequently used words being in sign language. But not all hearing parents know sign language, which can stunt the language skills of their non-hearing child. Ronnie McKenzie is an American Sign Language advocate that uses social media to teach others how to sign so deaf and nonverbal kids don't feel left out.

"But seriously i felt so isolated 50% of my life especially being outside of school i had NONE to sign ASL with. Imagine being restricted from your own language," McKenzie writes in his caption.

The dad explains that he was the only deaf child on both sides of his family and no one spoke ASL to him outside of school. Because of his experience feeling isolated within his own family, he decided to build his social media platform around ASL literacy, his followers look forward to his daily lessons. Parents and teachers of deaf and nonverbal children thank him for the work he's doing and often request certain signs to help them communicate.

McKenzie advocates that ASL become a language taught in elementary schools as a standard part of curriculum so students are able to effectively communicate with everyone around them. In one of his more recent videos, he teaches parents how to sign basic words children may need to know like, "pizza," "don't touch," and "follow me."

Parents and educators jumped into the comments to ask for help learning more signs.

"I work in school, and I would like to know school materials like: paper, crayons, pencil, paint, brushes, or words like: homework, test, recess. Thanks," someone writes.

"Can you do “gentle” or “careful”? Like for a toddler with a new baby at home," another asks.

"I love this so much. My son is non-verbal and struggles with learning any way to communicate. I feel me trying to learn ASL is something that will help him- I appreciate you, we all do," a commenter reveals.

Not everyone will pick up ASL quickly, but McKenzie's approach to repeat the signs three times and give signs for different situations that people frequently incur is likely most helpful. When learning a language, even our first language, we pick up on words used the most in familiar situations so giving context to the signs can help it stick. Hopefully more people are inspired to learn from McKenzie to make the world more accessible to others.

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The restaurant in Japan where getting your order wrong is totally expected and accepted

It's a beautiful example of social inclusion for people with dementia.

Photo by charlesdeluvio on Unsplash

At The Restaurant for Mistaken Orders, orders come as placed only 67% of the time.

Imagine you order salmon and green beans at a restaurant and the server brings you steak and potatoes. You'd say something, right? Tell them they got your order wrong? Expect them to fix the mix-up?

Not if you were dining at The Restaurant of Mistaken Orders in Tokyo, Japan, where part of the dining experience is not knowing whether you're going to get what you order. You have about a 1 in 3 chance that you won't, but those odds are in place for the best reason.

The Restaurant of Mistaken Orders employes people with dementia as servers, fully knowing that sometimes they're going to get customers' orders wrong. Customers who eat there know this fact as well. It's all just part of the adventure of dining at a restaurant designed to increase kindness and reduce isolation for people with cognitive impairments.

The pop-up restaurant is a collaboration between creator Shiro Oguni and a group home for people with dementia.

“Like everybody else, my awareness of dementia at first tended towards negative images of people who were ‘radically forgetful’ and ‘aimlessly wandering about,'" Oguni shared with Japan's government website. "But actually, they can cook, clean, do laundry, go shopping and do other ‘normal’ things for themselves."

Oguni was worried at first that people might criticize the concept of the restaurant, as if people with dementia were being treated as a carnival show or being made a laughingstock. But he says that when people see the smiles on the faces of the servers and how much joy and confidence they gain from having a purpose and being viewed as still capable, they are moved.

“The restaurant is not about whether orders are executed incorrectly or not,” noted Oguni. “The important thing is the interaction with people who have dementia.” It's a win-win. The people with dementia aren't as isolated, and 99% of the people who visit The Restaurant of Mistaken Orders leaves feeling happy.

"Dementia is not what a person is, but just part of who they are," said Oguni. "People are people. The change will not come from them, it must come from society. By cultivating tolerance, almost anything can be solved."

People love the idea of creating a space where people with dementia can work have other people to interact with.

"Kindness, inclusion, and compassion are the hallmarks of making someone feel like a human being despite adversity in their circumstances," shared one commenter on Instagram. "These people are sweet human beings who deserve not to be given up on by society."

"Instead of sticking them in a home and avoiding them, they are including them and giving them the ability to live, a sense of purpose, a reason to smile. I think it's a beautiful concept," wrote another.

"The beauty of a community choosing to meet people where they are instead of forcing them into a mold they no longer fit. Change the mold, change the result. Love this idea," shared another.

Many people pointed to the collectivist mindset in Japan, where societal well-being is more important than individual ambition, as something to aspire to. But even in Japan, The Restaurant of Mistaken Orders is a novel experiment that has proven to be a success.

"The image of ‘Cool Japan’ is recently gathering much enthusiasm, but I think ‘Warm Japan’ is just as important," said Oguni. "I want to promote a Japan that cultivates a warm, comfortable environment, so people will return home with smiles and a glow in their hearts.”

A beautiful goal for any nation to have. Learn more about The Restaurant for Mistaken Orders here.

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