Happy Holidays from BB Squared December 15, 2011

This will be BB Squared’s last post of 2011. To finish off the year, we just wanted to say thank-you  to all of you who have supported us so far, and that we are very much looking forward to what the new year brings.  We hope that BB Squared – or at least our plans for it – will grow a lot in 2012, and we hope you will come along for the ride. Again please don’t hesitate to contact us via e-mail, Twitter, or Facebook. We want to know if you read this blog and what you have to say.

However you celebrate the holiday, please enjoy it and be safe. We will see you back here on Thursday, January 12th will all-new blog content, so please join us then.

Your Friends at BB Squared,

Jill, Aaron and Carmen

What I Learned (Or Had Confirmed) from Doing BB Squared Research December 8, 2011

Currently we – mostly Jill – are busy doing research are putting together the first version of the BB Squared website. To help her out, I have been doing some research on differences the past couple of days. By doing this, I discovered that another reason we need BB Squared is because we need a more vocal voice with regards to the positive aspects of differences. Not only that, but we need more people who are willing to seek out those positive aspects. I know this because it was very hard for me to find information on the positive parts of various differences while I was doing research. Occasionally, I would come across a blog post that would list good things about a difference or mention an organization that supported a positive outlook, but they certainly were not readily visible. BB Squared thinks this needs to change.

Now, please do not interpret this as a suggestion that one should look at a difference positively when it is first discovered or every second of every day after that. Often, differences are hard. My difference can be difficult for me – I will probably talk about some reasons for this in future blog posts  – and I don’t pretend to know what others are going through in their lives. Additionally, I know that what parents of persons with differences experience is probably completely different than what we go through. But I also know this: most days, I like being different and the blessings it brings me. And I know that there are other people out there who feel the same because they are part of organizations like 3E Love and Aspies for Freedom. We at BB Squared are excited to join organizations like this in being a positive voice for differences everywhere.

The Buddy Walk, Part 2 December 1, 2011

Today’s post is from Aaron. After reading this post, I can tell he is a true storyteller. Enjoy his perspective on the Buddy Walk, as someone who has never been to a “differences event” before.

On November 6th, 2011 I was sitting in a gymnasium full of the most enthusiastic people I had seen in a very long time. It was not a convention or a meeting, it was a community brought together by the simple idea of celebrating their difference. On the beautiful morning, I was participating in the annual Waterloo Region Down Syndrome Society Buddy Walk and it was here that I realized just how important  BB Squared really is.

Growing up in your typical suburban home in Kitchener I knew very little about this community and did not realize what kinds of support systems were available in our area. Although I grew up with  a parent who has a disability as the result of an accident, it was something my family held very close to our hearts and felt that there was little support. While we collectively educated ourselves on my mothers condition, I realized while attending  The Buddy Walk  that this is what the BB Squared community is truly all about.

Before I attended the Buddy Walk, I thought BB Squared was a great idea, and I appreciated that it had potential but I truly didn’t know to what affect. It wasn’t until I was sitting down with other participants, sharing stories, hearing about experiences, watching people talk triumphantly about overcoming seemingly impossible obstacles, that I truly understood the power of a movement like BB2. Although this event was a fundraiser, as I sat there and watched over 200 people smile from ear to ear, hold hands and stand in support of one another, I realized that is was so much more than that. This massive group of people made me realize that the core understanding of support and inclusion within a community not only makes you feel included, but it inspires life changes one way or another. Even though the majority of these people are greatly effected by Down Syndrome on a day to day basis, the excitement that came from sharing their own experiences with others shone in their eyes and smiles, and their enthusiasm was infectious.

For me, BB Squared extends way beyond the confines of differences and instead of focuses on the belief that when it comes down to it; we are all the same. There is value in the human spirit and by accepting someone and loving and supporting them for who they are, you are valuing human potential- who the person is and who they can be. BB Squared is not just a great idea, it is not just a one long event that will come and go once and year, it is a movement. A movement that will not only change the lives of others around us but will inspire each and every one of us to be everything we can be. Come! Get Excited! Join the movement!