The song heard 'round the world

Many of us have seen the video of Maddison Tevlin that went viral not long ago.  In the video, Maddison, a 12 year old (at the time the video was recorded) young lady with Down syndrome sings John Legend's song "All of Me".

When I first saw the story being posted on Facebook, I did what I tend to do with many of these stories..............

Keep on scrolling.

But after seeing many of my fellow Ds mamas post it, I decided to watch it.

I was surprised by the video at first, but maybe not for the reason you may think.  At first I was surprised that her vocal abilities weren't better after I had read so many people's reactions to the video of her singing.  Many times after I read a story like this, it only leaves me feeling deflated at how far we still need to come in our society in accepting people with disabilities.  Titles of stories with the words, "In spite of...." or "Even though....." spin disability into something negative when it's not.  It is a part of that person.  End of story.  Other times, the writer makes a big deal of an everyday activity, skill or task that a person with a disability is able to accomplish.  Sure, not all people with disabilities have the same strengths and accomplishments, but neither do non-disabled people.  It shouldn't be such a shock when someone with a disability is good at sports or playing an instrument or art or has a successful job or business. But our view of disability is so limited that those stories are almost still necessary.  I was feeling that way about Madison's singing video at first.  That love/hate thing, where I love that someone with Down syndrome is being so widely recognized but hating that it's for an everyday thing like singing a song.

On a personal level, however, I would love for Kamdyn to be able to have the speech ability that Maddison has.  Her speech while singing and speaking is very clear, and many children with Down syndrome will have years of speech therapy and still not have speech that clear.  That's the biggest thing that I took away from the video.

 I really liked this Today Show article about the video, because I felt like it explained things a little better.  The fact that she sang a song isn't so much of the accomplishment, but the voice control it took her to do it compared to how her mom describes where her singing ability started a year earlier:

"She would sing all the time and I really wanted her to improve because it was more screaming or like a monotone sound coming out,” Grace Tevlin said, adding that she’s seen a “huge improvement” as Madison has learned techniques for improving her pitch."

I also liked this explanation in the article:

Singing is harder for people with Down syndrome, a genetic disorder characterized by cognitive delays and speech problems, due to low muscle tone and because the structure of their mouths and tongues is different, making it more difficult to form words, said Dr. David Smith, the program director for the Down Syndrome Clinic at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. 

as opposed to the actual singing video that said, "Very few people with Down syndrome will ever be able to sing."

I especially appreciated the statement, “She’s a talented young lady and I really, really liked listening to it,” said Smith, a family medicine doctor who has seen some people with Down syndrome sing over the years. He added: “It’s a shame that we’re still fighting the battle and thinking that people with Down syndrome can’t do stuff and they can.”

People are starting to understand that disability or Down syndrome doesn't mean a person can't do something, but we have a long way to go still.