Car Karaoke Video Creates Global Youtube Sensation

A group of 50 English mothers and their children with Down syndrome have created an internet sensation with a moving ‘Carpool Karaoke’ style video. To mark World Down Syndrome Day, the 50 mothers and their children are seen lip syncing and performing Makaton to the tune of Christina Perri’s ‘A Thousand Years.’ Makaton, a language programme which uses signs and symbols alongside speech, is designed to help hearing people with learning or communication difficulties. TV presenter James Corden - well-known for his Carpool Karaoke with celebrities said via Twitter the video had moved him to tears. The mothers in the video are all part of a Facebook group called Designer Genes, which is for parents of children with Down syndrome born in 2013/2014. They decided to come together “to show the world just how ordinary and fun life with the condition is and how they ‘Wouldn’t Change a Thing’.” According to 35-year-old Rebecca Carless, one of the mothers in the project, the idea was inspired by videos created by Singing Hands, an organisation which helps people learn Makaton. It was edited together by one of the fathers, Jamie McCallum.

“ We definitely wanted everyone to see it,” Carless told the the BBC.

“The idea is, we are just normal mums, we love our kids, they love us, and they are just like other fouryear-olds, we wouldn’t change them.” In the first week alone the video now has been viewed over 500,000 views on YouTube. Through social media the video was shared around the world. Christina Perri quickly showed her support for the project, writing on Twitter that she is “so honoured” to have had her song chosen. “This is the best,” Perri wrote. “My heart is full.” “The video turned out even better than we had hoped and the response has just been mad,” said Carless, who appears with her four-year-old son Archie. “Archie loves it, he spots himself straight away and grabs my hand to do the swaying bit.” The reactions around the world have been overwhelmingly positive. “Tears running down my face as I write this,” commented one person on social media. “So beautiful. I am a parent a of teenager with DS and remember the days of using Makaton so well.

“It is hugely inspirational and such a fantastic film. Well done to the creators and the mummies and children who took part. I hope it takes the world by storm.”