President's pen

Hi Everyone

Hope you have all managed to survive the winter without too many illnesses. Spring is upon us and the nights are starting to become shorter as the countdown to Christmas begins. Well, these past couple of months have certainly been a media feast for the NZDSA following on from the storyline of the Shortland Street episode. One of the characters found out she may be having a baby with Down syndrome and the father of the baby advising the character there are several options available if this was the case – one of them being termination. The NZDSA wrote to the programme to ask them to supply our contact details at the end of the programme in case anyone going through this same scenario may want some support. TVNZ declined to do this as they felt it wasn’t necessary and the storyline was in early stages of development. The NZDSA was horrified at some of the language used during these episodes and the fact that TVNZ did not consult the NZDSA on some of the emotions that would have been going through the parents’ minds. They advised they consulted a health professional, which is all well and good, but that doesn’t give a balanced representation for the character to portray to the public who watch Shortland Street. A lot of our young people with Down syndrome watch Shortland Street and the NZDSA was horrified to think that they may not feel valued when a programme on TV raises the question on the reasons why a character would not have a baby with Down syndrome. The great thing to come out of the media attention is all the good news stories we have been reading on people’s experiences around having a person with Down syndrome as part of their family.

Rochelle gets ready for The Unforgetaball with her sisters Gemma and Jess

This will be my final “President’s Pen”, as I have now completed my two three-year terms, and the AGM in October will see a new President take the reins. I would like to thank those of you who have given me positive feedback about what I have written over the years. It has been difficult at times trying to think about what to write but I have drawn from my experiences and hopefully some of the things I have shared with you have helped some of you when faced with similar dilemmas to what I have been faced with. I hope to see some of you at our AGM in Auckland on the 26th October. Until then, take care and enjoy this edition of CHAT 21.

Shelley