“NO DECISION WITHOUT US” – NEW COORDOWN VIDEO FOR WDSD2025 CAMPAIGN
By Catia Malaquias
Coordown, Italy’s national down syndrome association and New York-based creative agency, SMALL, continued collaboration has produced another viral, entertaining and highly effective social media campaign for World Down Syndrome Day, 21 March 2025.
The campaign, named “No Decision Without Us”, seeks to highlight the need for non-disabled people to listen to the voices and perspectives of people with disability in all decision-making that affects them, from decisions affecting them personally to decisions affecting society, and everything in between. The campaign demands that people with disability be given a ‘seat at the table’.
Ableism, or implicit prejudice against people with disability, and paternalism operate to side-line disabled people from decision-making affecting them. While sometimes driven by good intentions, the reality is that the voices and perspectives of people with disability are frequently overlooked or denied. The result being the making of decisions that impose outcomes on people with disability. That process of ‘imposition’ in turn further entrenches the sense of marginalisation and exclusion – while the quality of the imposed outcomes, not taking into account the particular factors relevant to people with disability, are often suboptimal for them – and often also for other other minorities similarly affected by such factors. This is because adjustments to cater for the needs and requirements of disabled people are often adjustments that also benefit other groups and individuals in society – for example ramps that can be used by parents with prams or elderly people with mobility frames. This lies at the heart of the concept of ‘universal design’.
“Nothing about us without us” is a core principle in disability rights, advocating for the full and direct participation of people with disability in the planning and implementation of decisions, programs, policies and laws affecting their lives. The shorthand title ‘No Decision Without Us” seeks to educate the non-disabled community about this disability rights principle, so critical to affording respect to people with disability and the basis for people with disability to be able to self-advocate for the realisation of their human rights and their better inclusion in all aspects of family, education, employment, community and life generally.
The video brings sassiness, humour and a Hamilton-like musical score to a serious disability rights issue – and unlike previous Coordown video campaigns for World Down Syndrome Day, this campaign’s message is broadened by including not only people with Down syndrome, but shares the importance of the message from the perspective of the disability community more broadly, by including a wheelchair user, a person of short-stature, a Deaf person, a blind person and a person with a limb difference. While the video includes high profile Grey’s Anatomy actress and disability advocate, Caterina Scorsone, who is the mother of a daughter with Down syndrome, the real star is “Sophia”, played by the sassy young actress with Down syndrome, Mia Noelle Rodriguez. The video also features other talented disabled cast members, Blake Stadnik, Jahmai Davis, Annika Nadine Hutsler, Ali Chapman, Danny Gomez, Cole Sibus and Domonique Brown.
CoorDown has also released an audio described version of the video and a descriptive transcript and features wardrobe items from Primark’s adaptive clothing range.
Congratulations again to Martina Fuga, the President of Coordown, and the creative team at Small, the ‘two Lucas’, Luca Lorenzini and Luca Pannese for another, no doubt, award winning campaign, as well as the talented and generous teams that stand behind them and have accompanied them on previous campaigns – director Rich Lee, cinematographer Christopher Probst, Indiana Production and Stabbiolo Music. We also wish to recognise Down Syndrome Australia for its longstanding support of Coordown’s annual video campaigns.