Not Special Needs: A Funny Yet Serious Ad About Down Syndrome

A while back I had the opportunity to be part of a project that aimed to protect the rights of persons with disabilities. The most important thing I learned, is that the majority of these people don’t need nor want special treatment. They just want to live, eat, drink, love, go to school, have fun, move, go to work and experience everyday situations like any other person without having to face inequalities in their daily lives.

Adults with disabilities ask that you say “disability” and not “special needs”. In the words of Lawrence Carter-Long:

A need isn’t special if other people get to take the same thing for granted.

I came across this brilliant campaign; it was created by Publicis New York for CoorDown to raise awareness for World Down Syndrom Day – March 21. It is well crafted.

The campaign visualizes in a funny way what special needs could really look like; ordering a dinosaur egg for breakfast, wearing a giant armored suit, having celebrity wake-up calls, or even being massaged by a cat.