Julia from Canada
My 25 year old daughter Julia has been very active here in Canada as an advocate.
About 6 years ago, after attending a Special Olympics Leadership workshop, Julia discovered she had a “Voice” and wanted to share her voice, so she could advocate for other people who are “differently-abled”. Since then, Julia has learned to share her messages of inclusion and equity across many different platforms.
Julia has been on The Canadian Down Syndrome Society steering committee called VATTA (Voices At The Table for Advocacy) for over 5 years now. This 8 person committee of advocates from across Canada present at the Canadian Down Syndrome Society national conferences, in addition to contributing ideas and opinions about inclusion, independence, health and many other important issues throughout the year.
Julia at Voices At The Table for Advocacy
Julia has also been on the Special Olympics Ontario Athlete Leadership Council for the the past 3 years. Last year Julia became a Special Olympics Health Messenger with Special Olympics International and gave a presentation on Mental Wellness to a Special Olympics International global webinar to over 200 people from around the world. Julia also narrated a ZOOM tutorial to help her fellow Special Olympics athletes stay connected with each other during this global pandemic.
Julia has been a guest speaker at a Special Olympics Family Health Forum in Prince Edward Island in Canada. Julia enjoys giving back to her community and has a community volunteer with the CanSkate program for over 6 years teaching young children basic skating skills. For the last 3 years, Julia has been a coach with the Special Olympics Fundamentals Program for young children. She is also actively involved in fundraising events for Special Olympics Ontario and in our local community. Julia is a figure skater, soccer player and track and field athlete with Special Olympics Timmins in Ontario, CANADA.
Julia volunteering with the CanSkate program
In 2019 Julia had the amazing opportunity to perform her figure skating solo for the ROCK THE RINK skating tour with Olympic Gold medalists Tessa Virtue, Scott Moir, Patrick Chan, Elvis Stojko and many other world champions- A moment in time Julia will never forget.
Julia figure skating
Julia is proud to be employed at Walmart for the past 4 years as a Customer Service Representative and she is on the Health and Safety Team.
Julia’s other interests are acting. In 2019, Julia was in a CBC documentary called, “You Can’t Ask That” Down Sydrome – Episode. Julia now has an agent and is represented by Premier Artists Management in Toronto, Canada. In 2020, Julia did a voiceover for a ParticipACTION commercial and also had a small role in a new Disney movie called Spin that will be released this summer.
Julia’s newest adventure is with THE DISABILITY CHANNEL. This past Monday, Julia was the host of THE TODAY SHOW – Toronto with THE DISABILITY CHANNEL.
Julia will continue to do her part to help people “SEE THE ABILITY” and create awareness and inclusion.
The best way to promote awareness of Down syndrome is for people with Down syndrome to share their own stories in their own words.
If you have a story that you would like to share with the world, please click here: SHARE YOUR STORY
