title: Life, Lessons and Laughter: Discovered by a Mother Whose Son Has Down Syndrome
author: Diane W. Cassity
description: Diane spent the beginning of her career as a physical education teacher and gymnastics coach at a local university. After the birth her first son, Jared, who has Down syndrome, and her second son, John, she gave up her career to begin another: being Mom. In 1978, she and a good friend, Sally Beal, were not happy with the status quo of available information and the lack of support for parents who had children with Downs, so together they established the Utah Down Syndrome Foundation. She was president of this of this foundation for eight years. It has been helping parents ever since.
zlib_text: **SPECIAL PRAISE FOR**
  
   **Not Always Happy**
  
  “ _Not Always Happy_ is the book that, as a parent of a child with Down
  syndrome, I have always wanted to read. And, it is the book that I want
  everyone else to read. . . . drawn with humor and without the opportunistic
  sentimentality so often used in the literary treatment of disability.”
  
  >  **—CATIA MALAQUIAS,** _founder and director of Starting With Julius,
  > director of Down Syndrome Australia and the Attitude Foundation_
  
  “Intimate, entertaining, at times hilarious . . . it illustrates that
  parenting a child with disabilities is really no different than parenting any
  other child. What is different are the attitudes and obstacles encountered
  along the way—and that’s the problem we, as a community, still need to solve!”
  
  >  **—PETER V. BERNS,** _Chief Executive Officer, The Arc_
  
  “. . . I found myself nodding, laughing, and grumbling audibly—each story
  feeling frustratingly familiar to me, bringing back memories of my experiences
  as a 