My Journal - Week 115 (03Nov11)

Down syndrome Awareness (week) is about Educating.

I usually spend my spare time (and other time) teaching and educating those who want to know about Down syndrome.  With this first week of November, it was very important to me to do that little bit extra in terms of "educating".  So, with it being a week of Awareness, I was very flattered when Dr. Meghann Lloyd (Asst. Professor) of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology asked me to present and teach to her 4th year university students taking a course called "Motor Behaviour and Developmental Disabilities" through the Health Sciences Faculty.

I spent 2 hours talking to her 4th year students about everything relating to and about Down syndrome.  These students (for all intents and purposes) will be working in the health care industry in one respect or another.  Either, working on Doctorates, Nursing, or Clinical Health applications such as Kinesiology. 

Together with Hunter (and John) our presentation was a huge success!  I believe that having Hunter there brings a type of realness to the presentation that would have otherwise not have been there and just been a "talk".  Everything went so well that I have been asked to present every year (for the same course) at their University.  Interestingly I have also been asked to teach at the University of Toronto by my Family Physician Dr. D. Mark who happens to be a Medical Board Director as well as a Teaching Physician. 

I thoroughly enjoyed teaching that morning - Teaching was an original career choice when I went to University so long ago.  Now it would seem I am just teaching where ever I go or work!

I am educating a different crowd (future health care practitioners) and it is my hope that in doing so, it will break barriers and also prevent misguided and often prejudicial information to the people who need it most - patients and new parents.