Northern Lebanon Celebrates World Down Syndrome Day

Written by Collette Dobeck Matthews

Tuesday, March 21 was World Down Syndrome Day. On World Down Syndrome Day we celebrate all of the people living with Down syndrome. The Northern Lebanon Bulletin was happy to recently interview two local families that are part of the lucky few who have Down Syndrome. These two wonderful people are also friends even though there is a 22 year age difference between them.

The first person we would like to introduce you to is Jonah Britt. Jonah is the youngest member of the Britt Family and lives in Lebanon. He is only 3.5 years old and he is a member of the Lucky Few. His Mom Ashley Says, “Something cool about the DS community is that we refer to ourselves as “The Lucky Few” and it’s seriously the most amazing and uplifting community to be a part of.” Jonah’s Family includes his parents Ryan and Ashley and his siblings Connor, Maggie, and Lillian.

Some of Jonah’s favorite things are singing songs and listening to music. His favorite songs are Wheels on the Bus and Baa Baa Black Sheep. Johah loves to play with his siblings and his dogs Ollie and Hazel. He likes to be with his friends and teachers at Noah’s Little Ark Preschool. Also, another thing he loves is to give fist bumps to everyone he meets.

We asked Jonah’s siblings if they had anything they would like to say about their baby brother. Maggie says, “Having Jonah as a brother has made me feel happier!” Connor says, “I love having Jonah as a brother because he has an awesome sense of humor!” Lillian says, “I love Jonah because he is so cute!”

His Parents were asked if there was anything they wanted to say about Down syndrome and his Mom had this to say: “Our family wants everyone to know that having Down syndrome doesn’t mean Jonah won’t live a happy and fulfilling life! In fact, having him in our family makes our lives more happy and fulfilling! He reminds us what is important and inspires us to just be ourselves. We work everyday to try to shift the narrative surrounding Down syndrome to one that’s more positive and accurate. Jonah lives a life that’s worthy and he is capable of doing whatever he wants. It just might take him a little more time, but he can do it with the right supports in his life!”

Ashley Britt also wrote this about World Down Syndrome Day: “Every World Down Syndrome Day we try to do something to raise awareness and raise money. This year we organized a campaign for friends and family to sponsor a pair of socks for each student in Jonah’s preschool. It is a tradition to celebrate World DS Day by wearing crazy, mismatched socks. Socks resemble the shape of chromosomes (people with DS have an extra 21st chromosome) and wearing fun, mismatched socks represents how everyone is unique and special in their own way. We were able to raise over $1000 for Down Syndrome Diagnosis Network (an organization that supports parents who just got a DS diagnosis) and every child and teacher in Jonah’s school will get a pair of socks to wear on World DS Day.”

Jonah has accomplished a lot in the 3.5 years since he was born. He has made art two years in a row that has been auctioned off at the Annual DDS Auction to raise money. From 2021 through 2022 Jonah was the DDS Ambassador. DDS is Developmental and Disability of Lebanon Valley. DDS helped him with his physical therapy, occupation therapy, and speech therapy for the first three years of his life. Now he meets with therapists during school provided through the iu13. The DDS mission as stated on their website www.DDSLebanon.org is, “Transforming lives through the power of independence. The mission of Developmental & Disability Services of Lebanon Valley is to empower children with developmental delays and persons with disabilities to lead more productive, satisfying and/or independent lives.”

Greer Leggat is a 25 year old woman from Lebanon who also has Down syndrome. She is friends with Jonah Britt and his family. In fact Greer and her Mother Judy were one of the first people from the Down Syndrome Community to reach out to the Britt Family after Jonah was born. Greer is an amazing woman who is accomplishing a lot and has a wonderful business.

Her business is called Magic by Greer. She makes and designs clothing with her own special Be Kind logo that is in her handwriting. The first thing Greer started making was Be Kind tablets and when they became popular she started making t-shirts and other items including hats, aprons, mugs, ornaments, car magnets, stickers, and more. Greer also uses her style of handwriting to make holiday t-shirts that say things like “Boo” for Halloween or “Gobble Gobble” for Thanksgiving. The designs are on sale at Carriage House Style, 75 W. Main Street in Lebanon. You can find Greer there working Tuesdays, but you can buy her items anytime the shop is open or online at www.carriagehousestyle.com. The best thing about Greer’s merchandise is that she donates profits to Developmental and Disability Services of Lebanon Valley.

Greer does much more than just designing, she also participates in a ton of activities. She is active in the Special Olympics where she competes in Bocce, Bowling, and Walk/Run. Hip hop dancing is what you can find Greer doing on Thursday nights and she loves going to movies. Pink is her favorite color and she loves art and coloring. Nighttime is her favorite time of day. Greer loves a lot of things but most of all she loves her family and wants to remind everyone to always be kind.