Father Posts Emotional Video Explaining Down Syndrome

News

 | February 25, 2016 | By Brian Delpozo

Robb Scott of Nova Scotia, Canada has rocketed to internet fame after a video he made explaining and defending Down syndrome has gone viral. The 41-year-old father of a 5-year-old son afflicted with Down syndrome said he was motivated to make the video after overhearing a conversation between another father and son while at a store.

In describing the incident, Scott explained that he noticed the boy looking at a movie featuring a character with the genetic condition.

“The boy asked his dad what Down syndrome was and he asked it in the most honest, genuine way,” Scott told ABC News. “His dad was not being malicious. He was searching for the words and I could see he was trying to find the right things to say [but] he said ‘It’s an illness of people not knowing anything.’ This child was genuinely asking, ‘What’s Down syndrome?’ and this child is a blank slate. I let him understand it for something it wasn’t. I let his father define it for him and that hit me hard. This was a child – a child that’s my sons age – and I could’ve corrected him, not in a rude way, and I didn’t.”

Not speaking up bothered Scott enough that he decided to rectify it as best he could by recording a video and posting it online discussing how the condition has affected his own life.

“I’m just making this video because I feel like I need to ‘karmically’ reset what just happened,” Scott began.

After explaining the interaction Scott overheard in the store, he described how Down syndrome has been such a powerful force in his own life.

“Down syndrome is literally one of the most beautiful things that’s ever happened in my life,” said Scott, tears in his eyes. “It’s fun, it’s brilliant, it’s amazing, it’s funny, it’s kind, it’s loving, it’s cuddly… They’re great teachers, people with Down syndrome. It’s not an illness. It’s not even a disability.

“Down syndrome is the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Since Scott uploaded the emotional video on February 20, it has been viewed over 870,000 times on his Facebook page.