GIFTS: Mothers Reflect on How Children with Down Syndrome Enrich Their Lives

It’s now been one year since Gifts was released, and we’ve received tremendous support from readers like you. So far we’ve sold over 14 thousand copies. With the money earned, we’ve bought thousands more copies that have been distributed to medical professionals, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the National Society of Genetic Counselors. With your help, Gifts II will be another big success!

• The submission guidelines for Gifts II can be found at giftsds.segullah.org/gifts-volume-ii/.
• Woodbine House is hosting a cover photo contest for this book. You can find guidelines here: www.woodbinehouse.com/DS_photo-contest.asp

The Gifts website (www.giftsds.segullah.org) has been redesigned to include several interactive features, including:

• a spot featuring incoming links (bottom middle of home page)
• DS blog sampler /personal-blogs/ (also featured at the bottom left of the home page)
• an expanded links list, with a new “media” category /down-syndrome-links/
• an easier-to-use feedback page: /feedback/.

You can be part of the site by linking to us on your blog from time to time, adding your blog to our sampler, suggesting links for our links page, and adding feedback to our feedback page. Instructions can be found by following the links above.

Thank you for your continuing support!

Kathryn Lynard Soper
Gifts Editor

Gifts, Mothers Reflect on How Children with Down Syndrome Have Enriched Their Lives has been awarded a 2008 National Parenting Publications Award (NAPPA) Gold Award.

The NAPPA Parenting Resources winners showcase the best in books, CDs, baby gear and innovative products that help make parenting easier and more fun.

and,

Gifts has been awarded a 2008 Mom’s Choice Award by The Just For Mom Foundation.  The award honors excellence in family-friendly media, products, and services.

Woodbine House, publisher of Gifts, is sponsoring a Cover Photo Contest.  They’re looking for Color or B&W photos of children with Down syndrome from early childhood through adolescence.  Candid, close-up photos are sought, of a single child, or pair of children (at least one with Down syndrome), or a child and adult.  Outdoor photos preferred.  A prize of $250 will be awarded to the photographer of the winning photo.

Support Utah Parents of Children with Down Syndrome

** Shop at any Utah Barnes and Noble bookstore on SATURDAY OCTOBER 13 (all day).

** Present this bookfair voucher [event is now over; voucher no longer online] when you make your purchase.

** Barnes and Noble will donate up to 25% of the sale to the Gifts Outreach program.

** Gifts Outreach will use these funds to provide copies of GIFTS for Utah Down syndrome organizations.

** These organizations will distribute free books to new parents and medical professionals statewide!

Special events will be held at the following stores:

Layton (1780 North Woodland Park Drive)

11 a.m. GIFTS book signing with editor Kathryn Lynard Soper

1 p.m. Down syndrome storytime

2 p.m. Starbright dancers

Bountiful (340 S. 500 W.)

1 p.m. Down syndrome storytime

Sugarhouse (1104 E 2100 S)

1 p.m. GIFTS book signing with editor Kathryn Lynard Soper

1 p.m. Down syndrome storytime

Fort Union (7119 S 1300 E)

1 p.m. Down syndrome storytime

Orem (330 E 1300 S)

1 p.m. Down syndrome storytime

3 p.m. GIFTS book signing with editor Kathryn Lynard Soper

If this event is successful, Barnes and Noble will consider a regional or even nationwide book fair event in Spring 2008.

Thank you for supporting Utah’s families!

(2007) Come to the GIFTS book signing at Barnes & Noble in the Mall of America, located in Bloomington, MN.

Date: Wednesday, September 5 at 7:00pm

Participating authors:

Ann Bremer (Chapter 20, The School of Life)
Leah Spring (Chapter 31, Enjoying the Ride)
Emily Zeid (Chapter 38, Loving Emma Jayne)

Read about Nicol Hudson (Chapter 49, The Eighth Grade Dance) and her son Alex in the East County Times (article no longer online)

Read about Elizabeth Price (Chapter 43, When the Other Shoe Drops) and her son Jude in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. July 22, 2007.

Read about Nancy Iannone (Chapter 30, A Hopeful Future) and her daughter Gabriella in the East County Times.

Go read this nice review of GIFTS in Opinionated Parent. Then enjoy Jennifer Graf Groneberg’s weekly column “A Little More” at ParentDish.com, and Kathryn Lynard Soper’s essay about her son Thomas at Literary Mama.

(2007) We’re pleased to announce the following book signing events at Barnes & Noble bookstores!

CALIFORNIA
Costa Mesa Friday, October 26th
Metro Pointe 901 B South Coast Drive
Sandra McElwee (Chapter 12, “Who’s Winning?”)

NEW YORK
Carle Place September 7
91 Old Country Rd.
Robin Roach (Chapter 5, “Oh, Yeah?”)

PENNSYLVANIA
Camp Hill August 18
Cori Guillaume (Chapter 35, “Green Onion”) and Jessica Capitani (Chapter 2, “What To Do With A Boy”)

UTAH
Sandy June 29, 6-8 p.m.
10180 S. State St.

Orem June 30, 1-3 p.m.
330 East 1300 South

Kathryn Lynard Soper (Editor)

GIFTS is catching the eye of media across the United States!

Several of our contributors were featured in a TV news story by Anita Brinkman aired by ABC affliliate WPVI in Philadelphia.

Andrea Morehead of WTHR in Indianapolis conducted a 4-part series called “Beyond the Diganosis” series. Part 4 includes information about GIFTS.

Editor Kathryn Lynard Soper and her son Thomas have been featured in 2 Salt Lake City newspapers, the Deseret News and the Salt Lake Tribune (article no longer available online).

Frances Lowe’s article, “The Gift of a Son,” featuring contributing author Jessica Capitani, was published in Virginia’s Winchester Star (article no longer available online).

On May 29, and May 30, the Southern New Jersey Perinatal Cooperative along with Virtua hospital sponsored the presentation, Emotionally Supporting the Family of a Newborn with Down syndrome, at two different Virtua locations.

The presentation goal:

Delivering or anticipating the birth of, a child with Down syndrome is an unexpected outcome for which families need and deserve our most positive efforts. This conference presented from the perspective of healthcare professionals who have experienced this life-changing event, will enable providers to provide compassionate emotional support to the families of these special children, while alleviating some of the fear that new parents of babies with Down syndrome feel.

We had roughly 100 attendees at both locations, and they were a HUGE success.

One of the local parents association here in Southern New Jersey that supports families who have a child with Down syndrome, named BUDS, or Bringing Up Down Syndrome and Nancy Iannone, mom and Down syndrome advocate, provided 100 copies of the book, Gifts for our attendees. We were able to give every attendee a free copy of the book. I overheard several people state how wonderful it was to be able to have this book, and share it with their patients. We also provided dinner, and many would get their dinner, and then sit at their table and read their book. Again it was a meaningful and informative event and we thank you for the support that made it such a well-received success.

Thank you Nancy for all of your hard work, spearheading the fundraiser that helped you with your endeavor of providing us the 100 copies of Gifts.

Thank you to everyone at BUDS who also helped with this endeavor.

The book is like having many parents there, to share their stories, yet the attendees can read them at their own pace, therefore, getting even more from the presentation.

I also have a copy on our L&D unit.

Sincerely,

Deb Dougherty RN

Virtua Memorial Hospital
Labor and Delivery
175 Madison Avenue
Mt Holly, NJ 08640