Noah’s Dad
Recently I began communicating on Twitter with a guy from Dallas named Rick Smith. He has a blog called Noah’s Dad. It’s his personal chronicle about being the father to a little boy with Down Syndrome named Noah. It’s a great site, and I encourage you to check it out. It’s inspiring, informational and loaded with cute photos and videos.
I also thought it was important to highlight Noah’s Dad because Rick’s site is full of the kind of stories we are encouraging folks to share on Fly on a Wall: A Special Project. Some of his posts are full of valuable information that brand new parents with a Down’s child (or any disability, for that matter) will be eager to read, while many are just reflections, opinions and observations that struck Rick in that particular moment.
Since FOAW is so new, uploading your own video or written piece now would make you somewhat of a pioneer —and sometimes being the first is tough. Most people prefer to wait and see what others are going to do before we take the plunge and share. Noah’s Dad is an excellent example of how you could go about sharing your story, and as Rick’s site proves, the truth is anything goes when you keep it honest and from the heart.
Whatever you want to share here is just the right thing to share—a question, a concern, a joyful or sad story—because it means it’s probably something that’s been on your mind, and if it’s on your mind you can bet it’s on someone else’s mind, too.
So far I have approached the individual and shot all the stories that appear on our site with my Flip Cam—no fancy technology necessary (a webcam works fine, too). Most of the pieces came out of a brief conversation I had with the person, or from hearing them speak and pinpointing something I wanted them to elaborate on. Now I’m asking you to flip the cam on yourself and talk to our growing special-needs community about something you’d like to share. That first step might just give someone else the inspiration or impetus to share, too, which is what it’s all about on FOAW. Remember to leave comments, too!
By linking Noah’s Dad to FOAW we hope we can maximize Rick’s reach, and soon that reach will grow exponentially, which is the goal.
Finally, even though the technology to upload your videos is pretty simple and something most of you are already in the habit of doing, soon I’m going to be presenting a how-to video, so that should make it even more convenient for you to share. We’re looking forward to hearing from you.