Happy World Down Syndrome Day 2024: Free Will to be Kind
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According to Emanuel Swedenborg, "The Lord is the source from which all good and truth flow, and it is the church which receives this good and truth and puts them into effect" (CL 120). By saying this, Swedenborg is stating that the Lord is the source from where all good and truth flows, and the church receives those goods and truths and puts them into effect. This is because the Lord gives everyone free will. So, therefore, everyone can make the decision to follow or not follow the Lord. The church is the way that we can take those goods and truths from the Lord and use them in the world.
There are many ways that everyone can use their free will to be good and truthful. As everyone who follows me knows, I am an aspiring Special Education teacher, and I am very passionate about being a disability advocate. As part of my overall teaching philosophy, I take teaching lessons about Social-Emotional Learning (SEL), diversity, and inclusion in classrooms very seriously. So, I use my free will to be good by teaching my students about what kindness looks like through these lessons. Today is World Down Syndrome Day and this week is Down Syndrome Awareness Week. So, I celebrate this observance day in my classroom every year. Last year when I was a Floater at Alphabet Garden Childcare Southampton (formerly called Schoolhouse Learning Center Southampton), I celebrated this observance day in one of the young toddler classrooms. I read two children's books about Down Syndrome to the toddlers at circle time. These books were called I Can, Can You? written by Marjorie W. Pitzer and My Friend Has Down Syndrome written by Jennifer Moore-Mallinos. I read I Can, Can You? first because this book contains pictures of children with Down Syndrome without mentioning it to be inclusive. My Friend Has Down Syndrome is about a little girl without Down Syndrome befriending a little girl with Down Syndrome. This second book taught the children about the meaning of friendship and inclusion. Inclusion is the act of letting everyone of all differences participate in activities and treating them with a sense of belonging.
[Image Description: "I Can, Can You?" in enlarged center-aligned white bubble letters outlined in pink on the top left to middle side of the book. There is a smiling baby with Down Syndrome wearing a light purple bathing suit with four light pink roses on it and sitting in grass. At the bottom left side of the book, "Written & Photographed by Marjorie W. Pitzer" in decreased white bubble letters outlined in pink. The book is also a rectangular shaped board book.]
[Image Description: "My friend has Down Syndrome" is in right-aligned white text in the top right corner on the book cover. Below "Syndrome," "Do you have a special friend? I do! Her name is Ella, and she's my best friend." is in center-aligned black text. Below "my best friend," "let's talk about it!" is in curved center-aligned black text. On the right side of this text, there is a yellow sunflower with three green leaves. Below this text, "Jennifer Moore-Mallinos" is in left-aligned dark purple text. Below this text, "Illustrations: Marta Fabrega" is in left-aligned dark purple text. On the left side of all of the text, there a smiling white little girl with Down Syndrome who has long straight blonde hair and is wearing a dark purple t-shirt and beige shorts. The little girl is also standing in front of three sunflowers.]
Since my first graders who I student teach have been reading about guide dogs and Sign Language as part of their reading curriculum this week, I decided to read a special book about disabilities from my childhood during book time when we had extra time. Why do some people use wheelchairs?: Questions children ask about DISABLED PEOPLE written by Mary Atkinson is an informational text children's book that my parents bought and read to my brother and I when we were early childhood aged. This book has always been one of my favorite books and I love whenever I get to read it to my students. My students had so many interesting questions about disabilities and my mentor even said that the book was "neat."
[Image Description: "WHY" is in center-aligned dark blue, red, and dark green text. Below "WHY," "do some people use wheelchairs?" is in center-aligned white text. Below that text, there is a picture outlined in white and dark blue. The picture contains two smiling boys walking with a boy in a wheelchair in between them moving along a sidewalk altogether. Below this picture, "Questions children ask about DISABLED PEOPLE" is in center-aligned white text. Surrounding the text and this picture, there is woman with a guide dog, a little girl licking a popsicle, two children communicating in Sign Language, a little boy looking to the left, a boy with Down Syndrome sitting at the bottom of a slide, and a girl sitting in a wheelchair.]
It is important for teachers to encourage students and families to encourage their children of all ages to choose to be kind through their free will power as well. In addition, Swedenborg goes onto say, "It is because of this that sons and daughters in the Word in its spiritual sense means truths and goods––sons meaning truths conceived in a person's spiritual self and born in the natural self, and daughters meaning qualities of goodness similarly conceived and born" (CL 120). To elaborate, I can relate to this because I have always had a love for dedicating my time to helping others. So, I truly believe that my love for helping others has been with me ever since I became part of the Lord's creation.
To reiterate, "the spiritual virtues of heaven and the church all have to do with good and truth" (CL 120). With free will, you can choose to either do good deeds or the opposite. Making choices are a big part of independence and everyone makes plenty of positive and negative choices including some that can be life changing. Everyone is constantly influenced by Heaven who are the angels and the evil spirits. When those voices come into people's heads, that is the voice of Heaven or Hell. Heaven influences things like forgiveness, good deeds, and being truthful. However, Hell influences things like dishonesty, revengeful acts, and sins. Everyone either becomes Heavenly or Hellish things. All individuals have the final control over their choices while it is the angels or evil spirits who just influence them to do those things.
You might also like and gain a better understanding of Down Syndrome by reading:
- What is Down Syndrome?
- Down Syndrome Awareness Week 2024: The Importance of Treating Everyone with Respect
- Best Children's Books for Teaching About Awareness and Inclusion of the Disability Community
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1. Swedenborg, E. The Delights of Wisdom relating to Conjugial Love followed by the Pleasures of Insanity relating to Licentious Love. Translated by N. Bruce Rogers. Bryn Athyn, PA: General Church of the New Jerusalem, 1995.
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