This attack was something they took very seriously. And they think it happened because of the adoption that took place. They had recently adopted two girls with Down syndrome. Anne says that day changed her life forever. Her children, who are 6 and 7, decided to make a video and stand up and speak out on behalf of their sisters.
With the help of their parents, they went to the public and demanded that everyone stop using the word “retard”. The Everyone Matters initiative discovered your video and asked for permission to share it. The Hollis family couldn’t have been happier to allow this to happen.
Soon the story was found all over the internet, and the original video on YouTube currently has over a million views.
In the video, you will see the children holding tokens. The cards say “To Meg and Alina”, who are her sisters. They use the tokens to get their point across for the rest of the video.
The first card shown says “Realize” with “Re” underlined at the beginning of the sentence. This is done to refer to the word “retarded” and to show others that they need to stop using this word when referring to people with Down syndrome.
They go on to explain the things their sisters learn and are able to do and how the word “retard” doesn’t describe them at all. They then went into detail and described their sisters and their personalities, giving viewers a little insight into their lives. The boys have gone to great lengths to prove that the stereotypes surrounding Down syndrome simply aren’t true.
After the kids are done with the cards, the video shows a photo of their whole family. At this time, the brothers ask him if he is ready to help his sisters.
They want viewers to help by using words of love instead of hate. They want to share love, hope and respect. They specify that their sisters are not “retarded” as you will see at the end of the video.
Can you believe someone did this to their house? It’s very sad that this family had to go through this, but at least they got something positive out of it.
