I Just Am: A Story of Down Syndrome Awareness and Tolerance is authored by Bryan Lambke with the help of his father Tom Lambke. This book is both charming and disarming and includes an introduction by Cheryl Rogers-Barnett, daughter of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.  Dale Evans authored Angel Unaware. The Foreword for I Just Am is written by Shannon D. R. Ringenbach PhD.

Bryan was born in 1981 with Down syndrome, a disability that one child in every 800 – 1000 births. Life for persons with Down Syndrome has much improved since Dale Evans and Roy Rogers had their daughter in 1950: Robin Elizabeth, a baby with Down syndrome. Improvements in diagnosis and treatment of the medical complications associated with Down syndrome have increased the average lifespan from less than a decade to around sixty years of age. Another reason people with Down syndrome are also living longer is because they are receiving better acceptance by society as a whole. No matter the cause, an individual who is surrounded by loving friends and family will always thrive better than one placed in an institution. One more factor that aides in a child’s ability to blend in with their peers is early intervention programs including but not limited to speech, physical, occupational and music therapies. [Read more...]