The Amin-ud-Din family from Pakistan

My story begins 19 years ago when two very courageous people Syed Amin-ud-Din and Dr. Iffet Sultana chose to accept my differences and vowed to love and cherish me just as any child should be loved.

I am Syeda Alishba Amin-ud-Din and today I am an artist, a social entrepreneur, a Francophone, a disability rights activist and social inclusion advocate. These are the titles that my wonderful parents cultivated into my being as they raised me up with uncountable efforts in face of me being a Down syndrome child and having special needs.

I have braved discrimination, mocking labels and often being a misfit because there was very less awareness and acceptance of differently able people. However armored with my parents’ iron resolve, the prayers of my grandparents and additional fortune of finding great mentors and teachers I have never let my spirit sag.

While I can never repay or sufficiently express my gratitude to these amazing people, I can ensure that their efforts become a legacy which I shall pass on to the world so that others like me would also get the chances that I got.

On International Day of Families I wish that each one of us could realize that we all are very unique in our own ways and we each have something to offer to the world and that we can help others to realize this.

Syeda with her father

Syeda with her mother

The best way to promote awareness of Down syndrome is for people with Down syndrome to share their own stories in their own words.

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