In the third episode of the Spread the Love podcast, our team sits down with Therese, the mother of Samantha and Mackenzie. 17-year-old Samantha, who received personalized letters from our volunteers, has down syndrome and is blind in one eye. She has several interests including ballet, basketball, and modeling.
Therese really enjoyed taking photos of Samantha, which inspired her to look for modeling agencies. She soon noticed that there were a lot less modeling opportunities for people with special needs; luckily, she found an amazing non-profit organization that advocates for diversity in media and was able to find a modeling agency for Samantha through them.
Slowly but surely, we are making progress through media to have more diversity and acceptance, and it’s amazing to see all of the representation that we are working towards as a society. However, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done, and we can all work together to diversify media and be more inclusive.
Another struggle Samantha faced in her extracurriculars was finding a suitable dance studio, but she learned to adapt while she was on stage. Without glasses, Samantha can only see three feet away in her good eye. When she is unable to wear glasses while performing, she memorizes all of the locations of where neighboring dancers are. Samantha is incredibly strong and hard-working, and she has reached the highest dancing level at her studio.
During the pandemic, Therese and Samantha's family was greatly affected. Being social and having interactions with other people was great for Samantha's speech and overall mood, and with that being taken away because of quarantine, turning to social media was a great way to be more involved. Samantha also has a higher likelihood of having more severe symptoms of COVID which has made it a very stressful year. Leaning on community and family has made it much more bearable.
Mackenzie and Samantha have a typical sister relationship: they argue as all sisters do and are also very proud and supportive of each other. Samantha’s family has learned many lessons throughout their journey together. The biggest piece of advice they learned is learning to Therese says that as a PSA for everyone, when someone has special needs saying “congratulations” is far better than “I’m sorry.”
As someone with special needs, Samantha has found that there are a lot less programs and options after high school for her. However, this does not stop her from doing what she loves, whether it's participating in school, modeling, or acting; she is sure to do amazing things both at home and out in the world. To follow her journey, check out her Instagram, which is all about positivity and the amazing things Samantha is doing on the daily!
Samantha’s Instagram: @notyourordinarysam https://www.instagram.com/notyourordinarysam/
Access the Podcast: https://linktr.ee/spr.eadthelove
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