Public Service Announcement Video for Bright Expectations by Florida Health This is a video starring me and my parents discussing my life in college. It takes place both at home and the TCC library. I talk about the college environment and try to encourage other people watching with intellectual disabilities to experience that for themselves. My dad talks about my having Down syndrome doesn’t hold me back and that I work hard. My mom talks about how the Bright Expectations website is a good place to start for families who have kids who have intellectual disabilities. We are a typical post-nuclear family, but with an added twist, because I have Down syndrome. We haven’t talked about families with Down syndrome or intellectual disabilities in class. Like most Post-nuclear families, my parents have helped prepare both me and my sister for a more competitive world ahead. This was harder to adhere to for us, because of how many other things I have been involved in, due to having Down syndrome. In Annette Lareau’s book Unequal Childhoods, she talks about concerted cultivation and natural growth. My family lives under a concerted cultivation process. This meant being very organized, having scheduled activities planned, and a lot of to-do lists being made. There was still more stuff that had to be done that included me. I had speech sessions both at school and at home. I had physical therapy. At school, my parents and I, had to be involved in an Individualized Education Plan to talk about accommodations that I could receive. - Claire Toman
