Thank you for attending our 29th Annual "Real Lives" Conference in Worcester on March 23. We hope you were inspired as much as we were, and that you learned a thing or two that will help you in your daily lives! 

 

We were amazed by all the "Real Lives" on display at the conference. How about  Rory Callaghan, this year's self-advocate keynote speaker who talked about his past, present and future, including his years at Wellesley High School, where he has read 7 Shakespeare plays, wrote a 26-chapter novel and had his artwork displayed in town-sponsored show (pictured below with Grant Hightower, his teacher's assistant for four years).

  

 

Or John Anton (below at the Legislative Advocacy table), just back from a triumphant 2-month stint in Washington, D.C., getting a standing ovation after receiving the Allen C. Crocker Award of Excellence, the MDSC's highest honor.

 

  

Or, all the self-advocates living their Real Lives by manning their own exhibitor tables or lending a helping hand - Tracey Newhart with Tracey's Kitchen, Chris May of Chris May Photos, Guitarist Ricardo Coloma who performed at the Awards Luncheon, Legislative Advocate Ashley Wolfe, Eve Skoletsky of Go Team 21 and Micah Lindsay of Reece's Rainbow.

 

 

But the day was not ALL about celebration. During the conference, of course, there were dozens of workshops led by regional and national experts speaking on a wide range of topics related to Down syndrome. None of this would have been possible without the generous support of our sponsors: Mass. Department of Developmental Services, Seven Hills Foundation, Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities Council, Boston Ballet Adaptive Dance Program and Alphagraphics Boston. 

There was also MDSC business to attend to. At the Annual Meeting (in the early morning pre-conference hours), Executive Director Maureen Gallagher delivered the Annual Report, covering highlights of the MDSC's accomplishments this past year and explaining the future direction of the organization. She expressed thanks to the many people who supported the MDSC this past year. (See the Annual Report Powerpoint slides here.)

It was a thrill to honor three other remarkable individuals (in addition to John Anton) for their life's work of empowering people with Down syndrome and other disabilities to live their Real Lives: our Media Award to 'Chronicle' Producer Amy Masters; our Educator's Award to Maureen Blazejewski of The Learning Program; and our Leadership Award to State Rep. Tom Sannicandro. All three were recognized as true champions of people with disabilities. 

 

Ultimately, though, it may be those fun, feel-good moments that will be most remembered. And there were many of them:

• Self-Advocates marching into the Grand Ballroom proudly hoisting their rally signs that proclaimed not only how they live their Real Lives now, but how they want to live it in the future (photo below).
• The stunning video (here or above) put together by Board member Beverly Beckham, who every year for the past several has culled through hundreds of photo submissions and brought our conference theme to life.
• Your photos on display! They captured the infinite ways that your loved ones with Down syndrome live their Real Lives and we tried to use them throughout the conference in as many ways as possible. (Below is a slideshow that includes photos that Beverly was not able to include in hers.)
• The Coverize-Me Photo Booth, in which individuals, friends and families got to play out their Real Lives, and appear on the cover of our "Real Life Magazine." If you had your photo taken in the booth, you can find it here. Thanks to John Crookes for taking that on, and to our other volunteer photographers, Kyle Gendron and Jessica Dolly.

All in all, it was a magical day! Thanks for being a part of it! If you haven't already, please take just a few minutes to fill out our Evaluation Form. Please email the completed form to conference@mdsc.org. And, be sure to check out our Facebook page for more photos and all the latest...

 

It's My 'Real' Life - Celebrating the Very Real Lives of People with Down syndrome

 

 

Now you have an an easy, fun way to support one of our priority bills -- and the namesake of our Real Lives Conference -- the Real Lives Bill. 

 

With a few quick steps on your smartphone, you can send a strong message to your state legislators to pass this critical piece of legislation that will make a "Real" difference in the lives of people with Down syndrome. For you tech-savvy folks out there, the image above says it all. Just text REAL or real to the number 9 10 11, or use your QR Reader to scan the code above! 

Go here for further explanation.

 

The Real Lives Bill, sponsored by Rep. Tom Sannicandro, was the centerpiece of our Annual Conference last weekend. It  would change the way developmental services are delivered, by shifting the balance of power away from the legislature and into the hands of those actually using the services. For more information on the Real Lives Bill, see a Fact Sheet here.