Since we have had Thorin I have talked about him modeling. Not because he is merely a beauty but because he is a beauty with Down syndrome. I remember the very first IEP Ward and I attended – before we had adopted him. I talked about how he should be a model. There was complete silence. In the room were special education teachers and therapists who worked exclusively with children with special needs. They should know better.

This past Fall I had two seconds that were not eaten up by life and I made contact with two local modeling agencies here. Both agreed our son is a beauty but both thought Maine wasn’t ready for this kind of advertising.

How ready do you have to be to have a child with Down syndrome be in an ad with typical kids and have it be a normal thing?

Last week a friend sent me a link to Adweek – the article was about Target and Nordstrom’s using the same Down syndrome child in it’s ads. Target and Nordstrom’s are both running ads with – that feature the  same kid model who has Down syndrome. (If you want to branch out our my kid is ready.)

It ain’t no big thing. Ar least it doesn’t have to be.