W is for Wade Blank, founder of ADAPT. In 1975, Wade Blank was working in a nursing home, Heritage House, in Denver. “The place was like a morgue,” he said. So little by little, Wade improved what services were available for PWD including radios and TVs for entertainment, co-ed housing, and other services that made the place feel more alive. He suggested that aids visit the homes of some people with disabilities to offer care. This idea got him fired.
Within 18 months of his firing, he moved 18 folks with disabilities out of the nursing home and into Atlantis Community to focus on fundamental human rights, something Wade was extremely familiar with as a disciple of Martin Luther King Jr. For more on Wade Blank & Adapt check out this article.
W is for World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD) on March 21st, 2012. As of 2012, the United Nations officially observes WDSD to bring awareness to triplication (trisomy) of the 21st chromosome; which causes Down syndrome. It is observed on March 21st (3/21) of each year. The date symbolizes the three copies of chromosome 21. For more on World Down Syndrome Day check out their website: https://www.worlddownsyndromeday.org/
From Jessi Allan about their illustration process: “I am making my illustrations ahead of time, where Katrina’s master doc only has an alliterative word association of topics she will be writing about under each letter. I take those words and do my own research and make a piece based on my reaction to that research, but I don’t have access to what is going into the final post ahead of time.
This is a karyotype of trisomy 21, the chromosome anomaly that is the source of Down’s Syndrome. It shows up as this tiny blip on a powerful microscope and shapes the entire life of the person that forms from there profoundly. For this illustration, I spent a full sixty minutes just adding layer over layer focusing on this one chromosome while I watched some YouTube docs about trisomy and Down’s Syndrome. The focus I put into one tiny little blob of DNA material is part of the overall impact of the artwork to me.”