Friday disability fact(ish)
The following titbit caught my eye in the latest newsletter from , which is known for its irreverent take on celebrity gossip and scurrilous rumours:
"Best 'fact' we heard this week: People with Down's Syndrome have a particular liking for Abba ... Anyone know any more about this?"
Okay, so this looks like a bit of a sweeping statement, but could there be any truth in it? After all, we thought it was soaps that people with Down's Syndrome were supposed to like?
Well, if anyone's going to know whether this has any basis in fact or is just some kind of urban myth, it's going to be Ouch! readers. So have you ever heard anything like this before? Tell us in the comments.
While we're at it - are there any other impairment groups that have a fondness for particular bands or singers? Do blind people tend to like The Beatles? Do CP'ers favour David Bowie? Do wheelchair users roll along to The Rolling Stones? Or should I just stop now?
Comment number 1.
At 15th May 2009, SARS22 wrote:I like the Rolling Stones line! I'm off to put it on my blog :)
Complain about this comment (Comment number 1)
Comment number 2.
At 15th May 2009, ChilmarkD wrote:Read this a while back & dug it up: a *great* article from San Francisco News ( ) about Huey Lewis and his developmentally disabled fans.
I love this part:
"That's when it hit me. My clients all have one thing in common: They want people to "see" them. Huey Lewis sees them. Huey Lewis has gone out of his way to spend time with them. Huey would have given Bobbi a chair if she needed one at a show, or he would have put her on his shoulders so she could see. I just knew it."
Complain about this comment (Comment number 2)
Comment number 3.
At 16th May 2009, Katie Fraser aka AbleGirl wrote:That's actually true as I have friends with Down's Syndrome and they love Abba, and they have the Abba Gold CD, so yes that fact is scarily true Vaughan!
Complain about this comment (Comment number 3)
Comment number 4.
At 18th May 2009, hackerjack wrote:Please can we have less of the sarcy comments, there is basis for mentally challenged people to like simple music, there is no basis for any physical only disability shaping such choices.
All the DS sufferers I know like the kind of music that ABBA produce, they also like Tina Turner and Kylie Minogue, it's the kind of pop that anyone can understand and enjoy, at least until they get too 'grown up' and start to hate it for being popular.
All it points to is the innocence that most DS people have.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 4)
Comment number 5.
At 19th May 2009, Turtle wrote:Simple? The Ramones had simple tunes, Kylie Minogue uses the best producers in the world. I can accept your condescending and horribly generalised views on people with Downs, but your take on pop music is right out of order...:-P
Complain about this comment (Comment number 5)