October is Down Syndrome Awareness month. As a company which is all about celebrating the lives of children, Livie & Luca believes that the world should know the face, the voice and the power of every child. Children with disabilities have long been underrepresented in advertising and mainstream media and Livie and Luca is proud to use models with disabilities in our advertising.

To bring some awareness to all of us around this condition we reached out to a Solemate, Nadia Sorenson, whose 3-year-old, Charlie, was born with Down Syndrome. She kindly agreed to answer a few questions for us about her sweet boy.

Hi Nadia! Tell us a little about Charlie. What is his personality like?

Charlie is an active, social, fun-loving boy. He is almost always happy. He cheers me up on my worst days, no matter what!

What are some of his favorite activities?

Charlie is into exploring everything. He really likes being outside & climbing rocks. He also loves dinosaurs, farm animals, and music.

What would you like our readers to know about having a child with Down Syndrome?

I think the biggest misconception I had about DS before I had Charlie, was that I expected him to be different. He is a regular little boy that is living with a condition. Like any other child that could have a number of conditions or problems. We all have our “handicaps”  - no one is perfect. Children with DS can be very intelligent and frequently they have special abilities. For instance Charlie is very sensitive and intuitive. If anyone else is upset he gets upset too. He’s very sensitive to other people’s energies.

What are some of the misconceptions people have about kids with Down’s Syndrome?

I think the biggest misconception people have is that all people who have Down Syndrome are the same. There is a spectrum with DS so some living with the condition can have it very severely and a lot of times they have other genetic conditions as well. Then there are also people living with Down Syndrome who can function quite well, like Charlie who is 3 1/2 and speaks a lot of words, understands concepts, listens to instructions, etc. He’s a wonderful little boy, and I love him so much.

Charlie in Maverick - Black Herringbone

We’ve been a proud partner with Changing the Face of Beauty since 2015, an organization whose mission is to encourage the integration of individuals with disabilities into the media.

Ever since then we have chosen to use models who have a disability, in particular, Down Syndrome.

For more info on Downs Syndrome