If you type in the word “Nothing,” on Google, “Nothing Down About It” immediately comes up as one of the top search results. In 2013, after giving birth to a son with Down syndrome, Oakley Peterson started a blog called “Nothing Down About It” and an Instagram account by the same name have has attracted the attention of thousands.
With 45,700 followers on Instagram, Peterson, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has shared with others the joy that has come into her life from having a child with Down syndrome.
In honor of Down Syndrome Awareness month, Peterson recently teamed up with Jane.com to make a video telling the story of discovering her son’s diagnosis. The video has been viewed nearly 3 million times on Facebook and attracted the attention of ABC News.
"I felt this call to be Welles' mouthpiece, his advocate," Peterson said in the video. "I don't want people to feel bad for him. People don't understand, just like I didn't. They see the things that are hard but what they don't see is that Welles gives me more hugs and kisses than anybody. Welles picks up on people's moods and loves with a capacity that I don't think we're even capable of understanding because if you spend more than two minutes with Welles, you can tell that his quality of life is probably better than any of ours."
Email: mjones@deseretdigital.com