{"id":1802,"date":"2024-06-26T15:16:44","date_gmt":"2024-06-26T05:16:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.downsyndrome.org.au\/voice\/?p=1802"},"modified":"2024-06-27T10:31:38","modified_gmt":"2024-06-27T00:31:38","slug":"assume-that-i-can","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.downsyndrome.org.au\/voice\/2024\/06\/26\/assume-that-i-can\/","title":{"rendered":"Assume that I can"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Assume that I can<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Madison Tevlin shares some of the highlights of appearing in the international CoorDown awareness campaign \u201cAssume that I Can.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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To read the full digital issue of Voice, download a copy here.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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Download Voice \u2013 Breaking Down Barriers<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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“I discovered that in psychology there is a concept called \u201cself-fulfilling prophecy\u201d, whereby a teacher who thinks that a student cannot understand would just act accordingly and therefore they would not teach the student. And there you go: the prophecy self-fulfills. <\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in my opinion, there are no difficult or easy concepts, there is always a simple way to explain things. If I think of all the things that were not explained and taught to me, well I really get angry.<\/em>”  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are the words delivered by Marta Sodano, a 29-year-old Italian woman with Down syndrome, during the World Down Syndrome Day Conference at the United Nations to describe the hurdles she had to overcome in her school experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On World Down Syndrome Day, CoorDown \u2013 Italy\u2019s National Coordination of Associations of People with Down Syndrome \u2013 launched the international awareness campaign \u201cAssume that I Can.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It calls for an end to the stereotypes, biases and low expectations that limit the potential of people with Down syndrome.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inspired by the words of Marta Sodano (above), the video campaign sees the lead character \u2013 a young woman with Down syndrome played by Canadian actress Madison Tevlin \u2013 challenge the low expectations others have of her and offers a different perspective.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She challenges people who believe that she cannot drink a cocktail, be a boxer, study Shakespeare, live alone, achieve important goals.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Halfway through the film there\u2019s a twist: the character invites us to think outside the box and use the self-fulfilling prophecy positively: if you believe in me, if you trust in me, you can have a positive impact, and then, maybe, I will achieve goals, even unexpected ones.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can find the video on the CoorDown YouTube channel \u2013 it\u2019s fantastic. We spoke with the lead actress, Madison Tevlin.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We loved the Coordown campaign! What were some of your highlights filming it?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was so excited to be part of this campaign, but I had no idea what to expect! We shot in Barcelona and that was amazing. The crew and everyone on set were so encouraging and so nice. I had no idea that I was going to be the main star for the whole ad!  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shooting the \u201cbar\u201d scene was my favourite because I love going out dancing. The response has been overwhelming, in the best way, and seeing the impact it\u2019s made on so many people, has been incredible. We still have a lot of work to do for people with disabilities, but this was a big step in the right direction! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is “assume that I can” such an important message in your opinion?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When some people look at me, all they see is Down syndrome. I want people to know that I am so much more than that. Down syndrome is the least interesting thing about me.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every person is unique and shouldn\u2019t be judged on just one thing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are all made up of so many different things and that\u2019s what makes us special. This campaign started a conversation about not judging people based on assumptions.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What barriers have you personally had to overcome to build your career as an actor, presenter and model?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think the biggest thing is exactly what the campaign was all about. People assuming that I can\u2019t do certain things, or putting limitations on me before I even get a chance to try.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes I get treated like a little kid, but I\u2019m 22 years old! Proving people wrong is really fun though, so I\u2019m always up for the challenge! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In what ways do you challenge people’s misconceptions about having Down syndrome?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By going after my dreams! I put myself out there and I try new things. Sometimes it\u2019s scary and sometimes it doesn\u2019t turn out the way I hoped, but I\u2019m always proud for trying.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also just want people to see me living a \u2018regular\u2019 life, like everyone else. Some people are surprised at the things I do \u2013 just because I have Down syndrome, and I think it\u2019s important to show the ordinary as well as the extraordinary.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s been your career highlight so far?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m so lucky, there have been so many. Shooting \u201cChampions\u201d is definitely at the top of the list. Meeting and interviewing Ryan Reynolds was a dream come true. Being honoured with the Quincy Jones Advocacy Award last year and being the first person with Down syndrome to be nominated for a Canadian Screen Award was so special. If I have to choose one, I\u2019d say hosting my own TV show is my career highlight so far! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are you working on now and what are you excited about in the future?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I just won 3 Webby Awards and was in New York for their awards ceremony! It was so exciting to walk the red carpet and be on stage. I am grateful to have been part of it. I\u2019m really hoping to shoot a second season of my show, WHO DO YOU THINK I AM? I\u2019m also doing lots of talks at schools and different events. You can follow everything I\u2019m up to at @madisontevlin on IG and TT and at my website madisontevlin.com. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Download the full digital edition of Voice here.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Download Voice – Breaking Down Barriers<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Madison Tevlin shares highlights of appearing in the CoorDown campaign \u201cAssume that I Can\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1803,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"711,991,763,597,972,923","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.downsyndrome.org.au\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.downsyndrome.org.au\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.downsyndrome.org.au\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downsyndrome.org.au\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downsyndrome.org.au\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1802"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.downsyndrome.org.au\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1828,"href":"https:\/\/www.downsyndrome.org.au\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1802\/revisions\/1828"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downsyndrome.org.au\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.downsyndrome.org.au\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downsyndrome.org.au\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downsyndrome.org.au\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}