From the Wall Street Journal: "I don't presume to tell others what to do when they are faced with these difficult decisions. But I worry that women who find themselves pregnant with a child who has a physical or mental disability get only one message, which is all about the burden about to be dumped in their laps." (11/29/09)
From Disability News: "The [UK] Sunday Times carries an excerpt from Sarah Palin's memoir in which she describes the “the problems and the joy of living with her special needs son." (11/23/09)
From Disability Scoop: "Palin's youngest son Trig, 1, was diagnosed with Down syndrome prenatally while Palin was serving as governor of Alaska. When she learned of the diagnosis, Palin says she understood why some women choose not to continue a pregnancy, but the difficult situation reaffirmed her own pro-life views." (11/18/09)
From the Washington Post: "All around the world, parents of children with Down Syndrome struggle against the stings of prejudice and fear while seeking acceptance for their children. There are precious few champions of this cause."
From About.com Down Syndrome: "It is something that most of us learn in preschool - it is not nice to make fun of people. It really is a simple concept and yet it seems to perplex certain people." (7/14/09)
And Disability News has some examples. (7/8/09)
From 5 Minutes for Special Needs: "Whether you have a child with special needs or not, EVERYONE should take a stand against tearing down the worth of another life.As you work to make the world a better place for my child, you are ultimately insuring the world will be a better place for yours." (7/5/09)
From Disability Scoop: "Palin continued, 'we all could learn so much from someone like Trig — I know he needs me, but I need him even more… what a child can offer to set priorities right — that time is precious… the world needs more Trigs, not fewer.'" (7/5/09)
From Disability News: Quotes from a Huffington Post column by "fiction author and comedy writer" Erik Sean Nelson that has since been taken down. (7/4/09)
From Disability News, quoting Palin's statement: "Sure wish folks could ever, ever understand that we ALL could learn so much from someone like Trig -- I know he needs me, but I need him even more ... what a child can offer to set priorities RIGHT -- that time is precious ... the world needs more 'Trigs,' not fewer." (7/4/09)
From Disability Scoop: "Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says she's 'blessed' to have a child with Down syndrome and will remain a staunch advocate for people with developmental disabilities despite losing her vice presidential bid last year." (6/9/09)
From Disability News: "An independent UK media regulator has found that the BBC violated the Broadcasting Code in airing a radio show in which an American comedian described Sarah Palin's son as 'retarded' and said his Down syndrome was proof that 'God obviously hates her.'" (12/10/08)
From Disability News: "Speaking at the annual conference of the Republican Governors Association, Sarah Palin told of the families and people with disabilities she met along the campaign trail." (11/18/08)
From the New York Times: "In the two months since she was named as Senator John McCain's running mate, Ms. Palin has made Trig, and children like him, the emotional center of her campaign." (11/3/08)
From Disability News: "The Obama campaign rejected Sarah Palin's claim about special needs trusts as false and misleading, saying that only families who make more than $250,000 a year would face higher taxes under the Obama administration." (10/25/08)
From About.com Autism: "But while I do care about candidates' perspectives on special education and disability funding, it's hard for me to believe in any politician's promises for new spending on such issues. Yes, these issues matter. But it seems to me that our nation will have much, much bigger priorities in January than fully funding the IDEA." (10/25/08)
From Disability News and the Wall Street Journal: "Andy Imparato, president of the American Association of People with Disabilities, a nonpartisan nonprofit, says he has not heard any complaints from constituents about how the Obama tax plan would affect them." (10/25/08)
From Disability News: "In her first policy speech as a vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin said parents should be able to use federal funding to send their children with disabilities to the public or private school of their choice." (10/25/08)
From Real Clear Politics.
Disability News quotes from an interview with the Palins in the Chicago Tribune. (10/24/08)
From Disability News: "Writing in the Houston Chronicle, Marty Wyngaarden Krauss recaps President John F. Kennedy's efforts to advocate on behalf of people with disabilities, challenging a national system that was based on neglect and ignorance. Sarah Palin should learn from his example, she says." (10/17/08)
From Disability News: "Los Angeles Times blogger Elizabeth Snead thinks McCain wasn't mixed up in his comments during the debate ... He just failed to point out that Sarah Palin has a family history of autism." (10/17/08)
From Autism Vox, quotes from the debate on the subject of autism and special needs. (10/16/08)
From Disability News: "On NBC Nightly News, a video report on the many people with Down syndrome who are turning out for Sarah Palin's campaign events. It has 'become a phenomenon,' the correspondent says. Many individual photos of people with Down syndrome are featured." (10/15/08)
From A Room of Mama's Own: "Sarah Palin and I share more than 'just' our gender and a special needs child. ... We share the weight of society's expectation that we should express our love for, and dedication to, our children in a particular way and that it's our job to do it all, not Daddy's." (10/7/08)
From Disability News: "Sarah Palin has boosted the awareness of people with disabilities during this campaign, but bipartisan and community-based efforts are needed to bring about real improvements." (9/30/08)
From Disability News: "People with disabilities want to hear specifics about what candidates are prepared to do to address issues like health care, education, employment, access and technology." (9/30/08)
From BaltimoreSun.com: "What do families of children with disabilities need from the next president? Not just a 'friend' in the White House but a willingness to pay for services they need." (9/22/08)
Among the reactions to Trig Palin's convention appearance featured on the Disability News blog are this one from a writer who was "thrilled" and <a href="http://www.patriciaebauer.com/2008/09/18/op-ed-palin-exploited-trig/">this one</a> from a writer who was "revolted." (9/18/08)
The Disability News blog offers guest commentary from the co-founders and co-directors of the Beach Center on Disability. (9/15/08)
A round-up of Palin commentary from Autism Vox. (9/15/08)
From the Washington Post: Families of chidren with Down syndrome have found that interest in the Palins is shining the spotlight on their experiences, too. (9/14/08)
The Disability Studies blog introduces the first woman to run for vice president with a son with developmental disabilities (in this case, apparently, fetal alcohol syndrome). (9/11/08)
The blog The Joy of Autism considers the differing goals of parents with special needs and observes that "Advocacy, my friends, is two-faced." (9/10/08)
The mother of a young adult with developmental disabilities worries about what happens when cute babies like Trig Palin grow up and need services that are becoming scarcer. (9/10/08)
Washington Post op-ed columnist Michael Gerson writes of the chromosomal civil-rights barrier broken by Trig Palin just by being a visible, loved, and applauded presence at a political convention. (9/10/08)
Another daily round-up from the Disability News blog. (9/10/08)
A story in Newsweek looks at misinformation circulating about Palin, including rumors that she cut special-education funding. (Turns out it wasn't special-education funding, and she didn't cut it.) (9/9/08)
The Disability News blog will be adding to this round-up of news stories throughout the day. (9/8/08)
From the NY Times: A look at Sarah Palin's pregnancy and the birth of Trig, including the first mention I've seen that her nephew, who has previously just been described as having "special needs," is autistic. (9/8/08)
The New York Times looks at the governor's record in Alaska and the hopes she's inspiring among parents of children with special needs. (9/7/08)
Education Week reporter Christina Samuels takes on the widely circulating rumor that Palin cut funding for special education, and finds it to be false. In fact, the truth appears to be just the opposite. (9/5/08)
From Disability News, answers to readers' questions about Down syndrome in general and Trig Palin in particular (along with a cute picture of Trig's sister Piper applying spit to his head). (9/6/08)
The Disability News blog offers guest commentary from the executive director of the Renssalaer County, NY, chapter of the Arc. (9/5/08)
You may or may not agree with the commentary, but there's a whole lot of cute pictures of Trig and his siblings worth scrolling through. From the blog Parenting Freedom. (9/5/08)
If nothing else, Sarah Palin's candidacy has started people talking and writing about Down syndrome. (9/5/08)
Disability News has quotes about how Palin handled the news of her baby's Down syndrome diagnosis, from the print copy of
People magazine. (9/5/08)
From Disability News: A Salon columnist speaks out on why women should have the right to terminate pregnancies due to Down syndrome, rather than raise "a child who will have a host of medical and developmental problems, requiring intense medical and social attention for the rest of his or her life." (9/5/08)
From Newsweek: "Advocates for the disabled receive Sarah Palin's pledge of support with the wary optimism of a group accustomed to unfulfilled promises." (9/6/08)
From Disability News: A transcript of Sarah Palin's speech excerpt about her son and special needs. (9/4/08)
From the NY Times: "For some families of children with Down syndrome, Governor Palin is about to learn a powerful truth: A child with special needs enlarges the world." (9/3/08)
From the Washington Post: Tim Shriver, head of the Special Olympics, hopes that Trig Palin may bring about a meeting of the minds across the pro-life/pro-choice divide. (9/2/08)
From Rocky Mountain News: Just because they both have children with Down syndrome doesn't mean this columnist has much in common with the Republican VP nominee. (9/1/08)
CapeCodTimes.com interviews parents of children with Down syndrome on the selection of Sarah Palin as the Republican VP. (8/31/08)
From the blog Winter Ramblings: "As exciting and ground breaking as having such families represented in the White House would be, it should not be the key reason anyone votes any ticket into the most powerful office in the world." (8/31/08)
The blog Mommy Life offers links to articles about the new VP nominee. (8/30/08)
People Magazine interviews the Palins and McCains, including questions on how the VP nominee will manage to run while caring for a four-year-old with Down syndrome. (8/30/08)
From the blog 5 Minutes for Special Needs: "From what I have read, Governor Palin comes across as sharp, resourceful, and not afraid to take on the 'big boys.' Reminds me of quite a few other Mom's of special needs kids I know. (8/30/08)
Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska and the mother of a four-month-old with Down syndrome, gets the nod. (8/29/08)
From the blog Life With My Special Ks, excitement about Palin's connection with both parents of children with Down syndrome and military families. (8/29/08)
I join Ginger of Adventures in Autism in loving the sound of that. (8/29/08)
From Garden of Eagen: "If McCain gets voted in, that little guy with DS is going to be at the podium with the rest of his family, and for the next four years the United States is going watch this little guy with DS grow up and be just like every other 4 year old. THAT, my friends, is very exciting to me!" (8/29/08)
From the Disability News blog, a primer on appropriate language for writing about young Trig Palin. (8/29/08)
