Boy With Down Syndrome Hits Modeling Big Time

[The Straight Story]

Boy With Down Syndrome Hits Modeling Big Time



After appearing in a national advertisement for Target, a 6-year-old New Jersey boy with Down syndrome is making it big, attracting media attention from as far away as London.

Ryan Langston, sported an orange t-shirt and casual brown pants on page 9 of Target’s Jan. 1 circular, distributed in newspapers and at stores across the country.

But unlike the other child models appearing alongside him, Ryan has Down syndrome. His inclusion is drawing kudos from bloggers across the Web because the boy’s diagnosis was not mentioned in the ad and apparently played no role in his selection.

Since Ryan was pointed out in a posting on the blog Noah’s Dad, his story has gone viral. It’s been featured on the Today Show’s website, in Adweek and London’s The Daily Mail in recent days.

Now, speaking in their first interview, Ryan’s parents, Jim and Amanda Langston, told Disability Scoop that their son’s newfound celebrity has been crazy and they’re just soaking it all up.

http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2012/01/09/boy-modeling-big-time/14729/

[jwirr]

1. To me a mother of a special ed child and a social worker for this group - he is beautiful.

[uppityperson]

2. He's a cutie. k&r

[frylock]

3. that's so cool!

[Odin2005]

4. AWWW!

[LadyHawkAZ]

5. Awww :)

[joeybee12]

6. He's a little cutie...I hope he's enjoying it...knr

[Louisiana1976]

7. Adorable! K&R!

[msanthrope]

8. Awesome. nt

[seabeyond]

9. Target... this is what our kids look like. good for target....

they were right on target.

i think that is great what they did. our norm.

[Kellerfeller]

10. Unfortunately

About 85% of kids with Downs are aborted. Almost all families who have them, however, find them to be a joy and a blessing.

[HangOnKids]

11. You have a link to back that claim up?

Please cite your source for the 85% abortion rate. Thanks.

[Kellerfeller]

12. Here you go

"About 90 percent of pregnant women who are given a Down syndrome diagnosis have chosen to have an abortion."
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/us/09down.html

Or for a more complete handling:

"The study is from 1999 by the Psychology and Genetics Research Group at King's College in London. It compiled 20 other studies measuring abortion rates and concluded that, following a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome, 92 percent of women chose to have an abortion.
...
A study from researchers at Wayne State University in Michigan examined the cases of 145 pregnancies with a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome from 1988-97. The study found that 19 (13.1 percent) women chose continuation of the pregnancy, while 126 (86.9 percent) chose termination. Another study examined 131 prenatally diagnosed cases of Down syndrome in Hawaii from 1987-96. The study found that women in 110 of those cases (84 percent) chose to have their pregnancies terminated."

http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2011/apr/28/richard-corcoran/rep-richard-corcoran-says-90-percent-prenatal-down/