AGNIESZKA PRODUCTIONS ~ Films & Blogs & all things creative from Agi K

*”It’s a myth that Down’s syndrome makes you loving and compliant, Magdalena is very sweet but not all the time and nor am I, and we don’t always get along as I will show you in this film”

- Agnieszka Kolaczynska, My Little Sister…Episode 3 Part 3

Hey guys! I’ve had lots of technical difficulties releasing this film – but I can now announce that My Little Sister (who happens to have Down’s syndrome) Part 3 Episode 3 is now out! This film includes an awesome hair dance on the trampoline,  learning to take turns when cooking, and a wheelbarrow race (which becomes quite a competitive one!) And lots more! In this episode I wanted to show some of the daily challenges and difficulties when me and Magdalena don’t get on and how we deal with it.   So, I won’t keep you waiting much longer, go ahead and watch the latest episode of My Little Sister:

*I felt it was important to do some mythbusting of a different kind in this episode. Most of my films so far I wanted to show you what a fulfilling and great life we have with or without Down’s syndrome. Down’s syndrome is not what decides how great or not great our life is. I wanted to show you what we love about each other and what we love doing, what we love about the world we live in and how we learn from each other, making each other’s lives have more meaning. This episode I wanted to bust a different kind of myth, I wanted to show some of the difficult times, to show you just how frustrated we can both get with each other. This was important to me as I have come across many people who presume that Magdalena is an angel (or even that I am!) That she is so good and never argues or misbehaves and they assume she was born that way! Well I think it’s important to let everyone know that Down’s syndrome or no Down’s syndrome, Magdalena has the same emotions to you and me, she can be kind and generous, she can be angry and upset, she can be jealous…She does get frustrated when she can’t keep up or communicate what she wants to say or understand…It always amazes me how people think that having Down’s syndrome could somehow make you loving or compliant. There are lots of extra challenges to having Down’s syndrome. And a lot of these cause Magdalena to express deep frustration and loud cries of confusion and this can make life unpredictable and difficult amongst all the joy and all the love.

Can you relate to any of the difficulties me and Magdalena sometimes have trying to understand or get along with each other? I would be interested to hear what areas of life with your siblings you find difficult, and how you deal with it comment down below

Hello there!
Me and Magdalena have been out in the garden looking for signs of Spring.
Have you spotted any signs of spring yet? We live 1200ft up in the hills of Wales, and Spring is just arriving here, although when we were in London last week, the blossom was out everywhere! Which just shows that even though the UK is a small island, it shows how even small differences in climate can have a big effect on nature, which is why Nature’s calendar is tracking differences in nature all over the UK from year to year, to build up a picture of how climate change is effecting nature. So, have you spotted any of these where you live yet? Hyacinths? Daffodils? Crocuses? Wood anemones? Oxeye daisies? Rowan buds? Ladybirds? Nesting birds? If you have any of these or any others then please leave a comment below, and head over to Nature’s Calendar to fill in your sightings! Your sightings are very important, as they contribute to important scientific studies and in the last 30 years things have dramatically changed.
In this short video, Kate explains why we so urgently need everyone’s recordings:

So head over to Nature’s calendar to enter your sightings.
We are lucky to have swallows and swifts nesting in our barn and we get excited when we see them return around this time of year, did you know that they fly all the way to Africa for the winter months? So it feels enormous when we see them return from thousands of miles of flying across seas and mountains and deserts,through storms and heat and rain. It’s amazing and the way they dart through the air is beautiful to watch. Have you seen the first swallow yet? If you have you can tweet your first sightings and where you saw them to Sky Jewels – @Swallowsighting and tell them about your swallow sighting!
Also, as promised from my last blog, here is the music video that me and Matilda made dancing on the rooftops amongst the chimney pots of Old London Town last week, I felt like Mary Poppins!

View more on my youtube channel: my YouTube channel!

Magdalena had a new experience last weekend, as the support group my mum runs went along to Contact A Family’s family film screening day.
It was brilliant, because they hired out the cinema so we had it all to ourselves! lots of families with children with different disabilities were there. It was great not having to worry about disturbing other people, and it meant that we could laugh and giggle! Magdalena really enjoyed the film – The Croods . It was great for us to all go to the cinema together as a family, Magdalena had never been before and we weren’t sure how she would react, but she loved it and laughed out loud at the funny bits it was special and a rare thing all being able enjoy the film together. She loved that her friends Logan and Ida came too and that they were able to sit together. The two Kates from Contactafamily made it a relaxed friendly day, we had such a nice time so if you see they are putting on a family film day near you I highly recommend it. It was great!
Afterwards, Simon, from Pigtown Theatre Company led a drama workshop based on the film we had watched. Magdalena really enjoyed it and helped her to express and assimilate what she had watched.

There are lambs everywhere on our Welsh hills at the moment, and we love to see them frolicking, we had a surprise though when we went to our piano lesson a few weeks ago and looked in the barn…watch this 36 second clip to see what we saw!

It’s meant to be a heatwave tomorrow…Yipee! If there was a colour for today, it would be white because it’s so bleak and mum-chance…
I love to read your comments below! Bye for now! Next episode of My Little Sister (who happens to have Down’s syndrome) out on 21st May!
Follow my blog with BloglovinAgi

This is going to be a blog with lots of music and lots of videos and photos!

My friend Matilda came over for the day, and we decided to make a music video outside to Florence + The Machine’s fabulous Dog Days Are Over. Look out for wild horses!
We had so much fun making it, we spent the whole day jumping about in the woods, although we only ended up filming a couple of scenes there! Here is the behind the scenes and bloopers:
I have also recently uploaded my best music video yet, beating ‘Sober’ (my favourite which has been at the top of my music video channel since I set it up. Now ‘Radioactive’ has taken over its place! I tried lots of new editing techniques on it. Do you think it’s my best? Comment below! I ❤ Imagine Dragons
A couple of days ago, the sun was shining, and I suddenly had a great idea, I hit the record button, and started to fly! Can you spot my Babcia (that’s Polish for Grandma) peering out of the window? I must have looked quit odd jumping up and down the
lawn, I probably looked like a bouncy fishfinger!
Every music video I make, with Magdalena or my friends, or by myself, Magdalena is always there watching me recording with my green screen in my bedroom, or with my tripod outside in the garden. She loves watching me making my music videos, and will often give me positive comments like: “wow! Great effects Agnieszka” or “nice colour!” But sometimes she will advise me on my colour scheme and greens screen backgrounds or even what I’m wearing by saying “not that colour, that too dark” or “not that top! Other one!” Magdalena knows her own mind and can be very persistent!

Have you heard of the band BILL?
Well, all I can say is they are an amazing band!
I love how they describe themselves:

“Our singer has Down syndrome.
Our drummer has long hair.
Our bassist has two X chromosomes.
Our guitarists have distortion pedals.

BILL are a rock band”

Bill has an amazing voice, and I really enjoy their music! My favourite song is All My Heart And All My Life
How did I discover BILL?
Well, Bill’s brother John contacted me via my website, saying hey my brother has D.S. too, we like your films and keep up the good work- and he gave me a link to BILL’s website.
Bill and John are another pair of great siblings doing great work together! Just like Joyce and Judith Scott are who I mentioned in my previous blog. Do you know any other brilliant siblings working together? Comment below!

We have just bought BILL’s CD. The band is great, powerful lyrics raw and driving rhythms BILL.COM

BILL has quirky, compelling videos to their music on their website, I love the photos too!

On the subject of photography, I have just recently taken a collection of colourful photos that I will be posting to my photography page soon, here are my 2 favourites!

I have a music video ready to upload on Saturday, it’s to Rhianna’s song Diamonds Look out for it! To get you excited here are a couple photos from it. I will tell you three things about it.

1. It is filmed on the rooftops of a London flat block
2. It stars my friend since forever, Matilda (as seen in Dog Days Are Over)
3. You need a head for heights to watch some scenes from this video

I was also mentioned in Britmums Special Needs Round-up “No round-up about siblings would be complete without including the very talented young lady Agi of Agnieszka Productions whose sister ‘happens to have DS’. She makes incredible, award-winning films which you will love.” The round-up gives links to lots of sibling stuff!

One of the great things about this blog and the films I make, is that I get to meet and hear from so many interesting and inspirational people and families, and I learn so much. Thank you to everyone who writes to me!

I recently felt very touched when I was sent a message via my contact page from Gary, who has given me permission to quote from his email.

“As the brother of my sister Kelli who has Downs Syndrome I so appreciate what it is you have done and are doing. I am now 62 years old and Kelli is 56 now. Not much was known about DS in those days as the Dr. told my parents that Kelli would only live to be 7 or 8 years old, she sure fooled them! They also told my parents that the best thing to do would be to put Kelli in an institution, my mom and dad weren’t having any of that! In fact when the rest of us kids grew up and moved out my mom and dad went to the state institution and brought home Connie, another girl with DS and foster parented her for 20 years! You see they didn’t want Kelli to be without a sibling at home after we moved out…She has since her birth until this day been such an important part of our family and has taught us all so much. I wanted you to know that many brothers and sisters out there appreciate their siblings with DS and also the education that your efforts are giving to the world”

Thanks so much for all of the great encouragement for my filmmaking through the personal emails via my contact page, comments on this website, liking and commenting agnieszkaproductions facebook page and the kind donations towards my filmmaking fund. I will soon have enough funds to start buying some of the components for a dedicated video editing suite. I will keep you updated! Remember the next episode of this years ‘My Little Sister…’ will be out on the 21st May.

Look forward to hearing your comments!

Agnieszka

The New ‘My Little Sister…’ Film

This episode shows Magdalena coming to terms with the death of our pet rabbit. This has been a constant theme through 2012, (he died in December 2011) it has been really hard for her to understand that he isn’t coming back and she has felt deep emotions about his death. Even since we have had our two new rabbits she still talks about “Billy-White” most days, we have to stop everything and talk about it before she will move forward with the day. She loves watching the “My little sister…” films as she says he lives in them.
Also Magdalena has been learning to jump, practising for a whole year, every day! And we went iceskating! We are still singing, dancing, playing our instruments with a new trumpet and cornet. Magdalena is putting what she has learnt into practice and telling me her opinions quite strongly, sometimes this is very funny! Magdalena loves books and we read to her and with her everyday lots, she knows more and more words and starts describing her experience of the world in words that are poetry. We love the words she uses, they conjure up wonderful images, listen carefully and enjoy her openness and thoughts. Look out for snails, cuddles, baby rabbits, butterflies and no I don’t fly off to space, but with our Billy-White dying it is easy to see why she thought I might.
My Little Sister (who happen’s to have Down’s syndrome) Part 3, Episode 1 we are aged 6 & 9 or 10 in it.

Next episode out here on May 21st!

 

It’s been very rainy and cold here, and very dearn, with snow still lying on our hills. I’ve also been a bit poorly, so me, Mum, Magdalena & my older sister Isabella decided to get creating. We love singing along to lively music when we make art together. We like using junk to create with. A lot of our world’s waste is made of plastic and so it makes sense to turn it into something useful or beautiful.

 

We also covered plastic tubs in scrap photocopied paper to make and old wrapping paper to make useful containers and made a bouncing bird puppet from an old water bottle. The star was the shape on it’s bottom and we just cut around it and wrapped it. This puppet makes great shadows and Magdalena loves playing with it, we cut into some plastic florist’s wrapping paper to make a tail that flutters (and tickles!)

I also covered an old plastic horse and Magdalena covered an old mouldy bath duck. Can you see the old plastic milk bottles that we cut in half? The handles become the trunks of the elephants. My mum saw this idea from another home educating mum, Tracy. The other half of the bottles make excellent glue and paint pots.

 

We were inspired to use wrapping and covering techniques after looking at Judith Scott’s brilliant sculptures, Judith Scott transformed objects into colourful magical art. On her website there is a link to a film about her work. She “cocoons” objects and has created amazing pieces of art. They are bold and seem to talk with so many shapes and textures and colours to them. I love the large pieces in particular. She also happen’s to have Down’s syndrome like my sister.

Sayaka Ganz is another amazing sculptor who makes the most beautiful emotional sculptures of animals, out of old plastic. Click her name to see her artwork, it really is incredible: Sayaka says this of her “Reclaimed Creations”

“Creating energy and harmony out of discarded objects”

Watch Sayaka at work making this incredible life size and realistic sculpture of a horse all made out of found plastic:

 

It’s amazing how something ugly or broken can be made into something beautiful or enchanting There’s more about her work on the link below:

SakayaGlanz’sRecycledPlasticHorses

Do you like making sculptures? If so, what sort? Comment below

One last thing, on the talk of plastic, is I found a very interesting project. 19 year old Boyan Slat has made a plan that could remove 7,250,000 tons of plastic from our world’s oceans. Do you think this plan is possible? Listen to him talking here:

When I heard Boyan talking about his project I felt happy to hear somebody talking about solutions to the huge environmental mess that people have created. I was so shocked to see the image of the bird’s stomach, how could so much plastic possibly fit inside? I hope this project works, and more people from my generation put their minds to creating solutions to the problems we see around us.

Oh and I entered the World Literacy Day again for fun, which is an online spelling competition with 5 million children from 200 different countries taking part. When I was asked by the reporter last year if I would enter again I hadn’t thought about it,well I thought why not it’s very enjoyable as it’s live and very fast! I have still not been taught any spellings or had a spelling test, ever.  I do read A LOT and I do love the sounds and meanings of words and as you know I am always writing and I think spellcheck gets you to recognise when you are spelling something wrong too.

Spring is on it’s way, and look who’s come to welcome it for us, arriving Easter weekend! A beautiful wild rabbit who visits our garden every morning (we think he must be an escapee who has survived in the wild) He has joined ‘Corak’ the crow in the wild animals who are quite tame who like living with us:

Have you had any surprise animals visiting you this spring?
Look out for the rabbits in my next episode of “My little sister…” coming out 21st April!

The first time I ever heard The R-Word (in case you didn’t know the word I’m talking about is ‘retard’) was on the train. There were a bunch of high school kids opposite, & all but one were randomly taking pictures outside of the window. The one who wasn’t taking pictures said: “That’s so retarded.” I asked mum what the word meant, I could tell it was an insult, or a word to put somebody down, and to make what they were doing sound worthless. And also I knew that it was offend full, because a girl replied back: “Shut up” The real meaning of the word is ‘Retardation‘ is meant to mean ‘the act or result of delaying.’ But people have started using it as an insult. Unfortunately it’s very commonly used as an insult in America. And sadly it’s becoming common in the UK, too.

I want to try and explain the hurtful effect of using the R-Word as a put-down or insult to you. Because people have said to me: “What does it matter? It’s just a joke.”  Well to those people who don’t have a intellectual or developmental disability maybe it doesn’t matter, they probably haven’t stopped to imagine what impact it would have on them if they had a lifelong condition, and the name of that condition was commonly used as an insult all around them. So here is my example to help those people imagine what it might feel like, and hopefully get them to stop using the R word.

Imagine you had brown eyes (like me) and you were walking down the street and you  were waiting at the bus stop. There are two girls also waiting at the bus stop and you overhear their conversation: “Ugh that boy who fancies me phoned me up for the millionth time last night!” the other girl replies: “I don’t know why you put up with him, he’s so brown eyed!”                                                                                                                     The bus pulls up and you get onto it, the bus is delayed because of a car thats been stopped in front by the police. There are two men behind you who say: “I’m going to be late for my shift. This is SO brown eyed” you sit down next to young man who is on his mobile: “Sorry I was so brown eyed this morning, I forgot to ask how it went. I’ll be back soon just going to grab a coffee.” A girl opposite realises she has boarded the wrong bus, and gets up and runs for the door, tripping over a boy’s foot, the boy mutters grumpily: “Brown eyed!”

None of these insults have been directed at you. But you have always had brown eyes, and you always will have. How would you start to feel about yourself and how others view the worth of brown eyed people?                    

If you still don’t believe that it “doesn’t really matter” whether people use the R word as a putdown or not. Then research this, that my mum told me about; she said that when she was doing her teacher training, she learnt about Jane Elliot and the discrimination experiments she did to demonstrate the impact of using words negatively or positively.

Jane Elliott in 1968 as a response to racism in U.S.A. when Martin Luther King was assassinated tried an experiment to teach her students about racism.

She divided her class by eye colour and on the first day praised all the blue eyed children, and gave them privileges but ignored the brown eyed children and criticised them. The next day she reversed the roles with the blue-eyed children being picked on while the brown eyes were praised. On both days, children who were treated as inferior started to behave and believe that they were inferior students failing in their tests and other work.

See here & watch the documentary ‘A Class Divided’ and find out more including teaching resources here: Jane Elliott and a class divided
What you read and hear is powerful and really goes in! You tell yourself that you’ll just forget about it – but quite often you don’t, it’s always there at the very back corner of your mind and you’re trying to squeeze it out through a pin prick of a hole in your mind, but it just keeps bouncing back. So when I came across Jump! Magazine for girls, a few months ago, I was pleased to read something which didn’t make you feel lacking but instead made you feel good and positive to be who you are!

So when I was contacted by the editor and asked to write an article about Down’s syndrome for the magazine, I was delighted!

You can read it here:

jump!Mag.com/odd-socks-for-world-down-syndrome-day

I highly recommend Jump!Magazine, because it has interesting and intelligent articles, great female role models, NO adverts! and a great ethos: “Fluff free and Bieberless” I think it’s so bad how the average girl’s mag in the supermarket is all pink stuff, make up, One Direction & celebrities and stuffed full of adverts aimed at making you feel worthless unless you have their product. I think when girls read those magazines it makes them want to be something they don’t look like, or have something they can’t. A lot of girls then feel depressed. I think it must be really hard for girls to get away from all these pink magazines, they are EVERYWHERE!

Even walking into the supermarket they’re right in front of you, with big bold headings and bold pink covers. I also think that how right next to these pre-teen and teenage mags are magazines for woman and men with really rude covers and photos, I don’t think it’s good how both sections should be put together! And all those images are not just going into people like my age’s heads, but little children’s too. It’s not just magazines that are making us feel like we should be something else, it’s also the advertising on websites everywhere, from somewhere social like Facebook to somewhere you just want to get some lyrics for a song from!

Hello! I hoped you all enjoyed My Little Sister (who happens to have Down’s syndrome) Part 3 Episode 1. Episode 2 coming out on the 21st of April! It’s very snowy here in Wales at the moment, and we’re snowed in, which is quite fun because me & Magdalena have been sledging a lot. I’ve noticed how much more me and Magdalena and I can be trusted to go out together, like last year we couldn’t go sledging by ourselves incase something happened, but me and Magdalena this year are able to go sledging by ourselves for 15 minutes with mum watching from the window. Its such a great feeling, doing things with Magdalena just by ourselves.
But of course, it is really fun to do things with mum around and watching, because we can all share our joy together.
Here’s the first in a seasonal series of bite sized portions of Magdalena & I out and about. I’m calling these minute snippets of our lives: Mini ‘My Little Sister…’ this one is about sledging, it’s taken my camera skills to a whole new level, watch as the camera joins us on the sledge ride

Me and Magdalena have been making ice sculptures after we watched video of Andy Goldsworthy which is really inspiring:

I love the way how nature is so wonderful, and I love how Andy Goldsworthy workes with nature and turns it into something more incredible and more wonderful than before. I love how he doesn’t use any man made materials, and my favourite piece of art that he has created is where he lies down on the grass just before it snows or rains, and then waits till it has stopped or the ground is completely covered, then he stands up and there’s an amazing print of his body.

I think the great thing about his artwork is that its so inspiring & addictive! I’ve been looking through his book and after reading it through and looking at all his pictures I was desperate to get outside and try out some of his ideas. I love how he works with whatever he finds and gets us to look in a new way when we see it. I like the way he uses the weather and light and how everything changes all the time, it makes his artwork exciting.

For dad to get to work, he has to walk through 4 foot drifts down our steep mile track, which is very hard.
When he walks back from work I go to meet him, and I hope one day Magdalena will be able to walk with me as well! Me and Magdalena had a fun walk around the garden together, and we made an ice palace:


It’s amazing how when things are covered and surrounded by snow how you look at everything anew. I love taking photos of nature and especially things in the snow! And remember, if you have a snow setting on your camera, be sure to turn it on to avoid blueish photos.

5 good things about the snow:

1) Sledging with Magdalena.
2) Feeding and watching the birds.
3) The bright light of the snow that continuously streams through the window.
4) We get lots of cosy time together.
5) It’s great for making films!

I’ve just finished making a snow music video, to a brillaint band called Of Monsters And Men I hope you enjoy the music video!

When we come in from sledding, me and Magdalena love to eat rice pudding. Rice pudding is really warm and yummy, an ideal treat to eat after playing in the snow! Here is the recipe for rice pudding:

Rice Pudding
3-4 portions worth (depending how big your bowl is – mine is huge!)
You’ll need:
Pudding Rice
Milk
Raisens/sultanas
Nutmeg (fresh is much nicer, grate it yourself)
Cinnamon (grate this too from cinnamon sticks)

Put half a cup of pudding rice into a pan, wash it thoroughly (you’ll be surprised how dirty it is!) then fill the pan with water up to just below the rice. Then add milk so it fills half the pan. Put the pan on a high heat. Add a handful of raisons/sultanas.
Then grate some fresh nutmeg so it covers the top of the milk. Then add a teaspoon or so of cinnamon.
It takes half an hour on a high heat, and an hour at the least on a low heat. Stir every so often, and watch out as it sticks fast! Add milk and water every so often when its dry, and when it runs out of liquid.A really delicious snack for cold days. Alternatively you can just leave this to cook in the oven in a casserole dish. I like cooking on the stove as its quicker, and tastes more ‘light.’

Do you like rice pudding? Do you like making scupltures? Have you been sledging this year, and if so who do you like going sledging with? Your sister, your brother, your friends, your dog maybe?! Haha the last ones a joke – but maybe some poeple do go sledging with their dog or cat! Comment your answers down below.
Before I go, here is a quick quiz for Magdalena’s friends and anyone else who wants to try, can you guess the footprint?

What handprints are these?
1.
A) Adult handprints
B) Alien handprints
C) Dragon handprints
D) Child’s handprints

2.

Is it:
A) A Fox
B) A Cat
C) A Dog
D) A Rabbit

3.

Are they:

A) Childs footprints
B) Cat’s footprints
C) Dinosaur’s footprints
D) Bird’s footprints

4. Now the last! This one is for anyone, from 1 to 100! Can you spot the statue? And can you spot the little leaf I drew onto the picture? If the picture is too small, click on the image to make bigger.

Look forward to your answers & comments down below,
Bye for now!

The post you’ve all been waiting for, for a long time!! So now I can officially announce:
My Little Sister (who happens to have Down’s syndrome) Part 3 Episode 1
Boy, haven’t I been waiting to write that for a long time! Okay so best now keep you waiting, I’ve left you waiting long enough!! Here is My Little Sister Part 3 Episode 1! Look out for belly dancing, sandcastles, treasure in the sink, horse riding, and a visit to the library….Enjoy!

I hope you enjoyed My Little Sister (who happens to have Down’s syndrome) Part 3 Episode 1! I certainly had a lot of fun making it although, not to mention how frustrating some bits were to edit, and putting up with the computer crashing – whew!
Please comment down below as I’d love to hear your thoughts and your favourite parts!
The next one is coming out on the 21st of April, the second on the 21st of May & the third on the 21st of June
Write soon!
Agnieszka

What a great way to celebrate World Down Syndrome Day this year- to wear odd socks! I’m sure everyone has had lots of fun wearing their odd socks and taking photos and making videos! This blog post is going to be full of odd socks! So first of all a huge THANK YOU! To all my friends for taking photos of them in their odd socks, and making videos in them.

When I sent out a message to all my friends asking them to make a short video or photo, I was really touched when I got lots of photos and a couple of videos back – can’t wait to show them to you! None of these friends have siblings with D.S. I feel touched that they have joined in and reached out to get to know more about Down’s syndrome as this to me is what World Down’s syndrome Day is all about. I have made lots of friends through my music videos and blog from as far away as Denmark, & Edinburgh, to New Jersey U.S.A and Portsmouth U.K. We all keep in contact via Skype & letters, its great to have so many friends all over the world! So to open up my blog, I’d like to start with a video by my friend Justin from the States who has made a brilliant video to some words I wrote for World Down Syndrome day:

With all your photos and videos I have put together a short music montage, enjoy!
Next, I’d like to show you a really lovely video my friend, Hattie, made for this blog, of her and her brother Clarke with their odd socks: �

Here is another one!

Next in my blog, I’d like to show you some brilliant photos:

This is me and Magdalena’s odd sock video:

Remember World Down Syndrome Day is a day to celebrate the wonderful people we know & have yet to meet who have Down’s syndrome. I am leaving you with a video made for WDSD that I really love, because it is full of love, gratitude & positivity, and it’s so true! Made by a mummy – Eliana Tardio – of two children with Down’s syndrome. Enjoy it!

I hope you have a good World Down Syndrome day, and remember to wear your odd socks! Finally I can announce that My Little Sister (who happens to have Down’s syndrome) Part 3 Episode 1 is coming out for World Down Syndrome Day!

See you on World Down Syndrome Day! That’s 2 days away!

Who wakes you up in the morning?
Is it your dog? Your sister? Your alarm clock? Your mum or dad? Or your phone? Comment down below!
The light wakes me up in the morning, coming through my skylight at 6:45, I wake up that early because the whole of outside is waking up and its fun lying in bed watching the sun come up through the window, and also normally I’ll get up, throw some clothes on and make a music video!
Who wakes Magdalena up? Well when mum’s putting Magdalena to bed, Magdalena will tell her who she wants to wake her up in the morning. It will eitheir be me, dad, mum or Isabella, when she’s back from college.
This morning, it was me . Of course, when you ‘wake Magdalena up’ she’s already awake, all I do is creep into her bed, stay there for a couple of minutes and then say ‘Magdalena it’s morning!’ and she will be so happy that I have woken her up, and done what she asked. If Dad or mum had gone in this morning when she had asked for me, she would have got cross, because she likes to choose and know that she has been listened to.
So you think why am I asking who wakes you up in the morning? Well because, this morning, I woke Magdalena up, and we went into my bedroom (wearing odd socks…) and started making a quick music video to ‘Beautiful Uncertainty’ by Kuba Oms.
In case you were wondering, we were wearing odd socks because on World Down syndrome day people all over the world will be wearing odd socks to show that people with Down’s syndrome are different but the same! This is to show that none of us like feeling left out, people with Down’s syndrome are no exception. They want to be treated the same as anyone else does, and included, so reach out and get to know the person, not the condition.
An odd pair of socks may be a different pattern or colour but can still be worn together quite happily if we change our attitudes about having to wear matching socks.
So to wear odd socks is to remind us that the way we think, is really important and makes a difference to whether people with Down’s syndrome feel included or not.
Here is the music video me and Magdalena made, please like it on YouTube and leave a comment!

Click here to view our music video!

So, please wear odd socks for World Down Syndrome Day! And then send me some pictures of you wearing odd socks via my Facebook page and I’ll feature them on my website looking forward to seeing them!

Bye for now! Agnieszka