Help bring people with Down Syndrome out of isolation and into our communities to attend schools, hold jobs, play sports, and live fully and independently.

Something special happened about a generation or two ago. We made a radical shift, from isolating people with disabilities to bringing them into our communities. Suddenly, people who had been excluded, invisible, became part of daily life. Some strode as adults from the abyss of large group homes into community settings. Others made more mundane entries - they were born to families whose intent was - simply - to love them.

All - the adults with disabilities, the newborn and families - became pioneers, confronting a wilderness of obstacles, prejudice, misconception and myth.

We have come leagues since. Our sons and daughters with Down syndrome are now an integral part of daily life. They attend our schools, participate in their communities, hold jobs, pay taxes, vote. They bowl, play softball, go to football games. Some live with their families or in small group homes. And, increasingly, others live independently. Importantly, they contribute to their communities, giving back a measure of what they have gotten.

The National Down Syndrome Congress has been an important part of all of that. You see, we are the families of individuals with Down syndrome. And, with sincere thanks, professionals - doctors, attorneys, therapists, teachers - who rallied to us. We are the people who believe in our kids, demand their rights and get them affirmed. We are the people who supported them in all they did from infancy to adulthood.