Celebrating World Down Syndrome Day

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Every year on March 21st, marks World Down Syndrome Day.

It's a day to celebrate the lives of people with down syndrome and to continue to raise awareness on the topic.

Down syndrome occurs when an individual has a full or partial extra copy of chromosome 21.

Santa Barbara locals, Grace Gerenser, 16, and Ryan Fitch, 21, both have down syndrome, but want to help get rid of the stigma around it.

"Lately, I have felt excluded or being ignored," said Gerenser. "They think that I cannot do things. Where I can do things! We want to have more opportunities!”

The National Down Syndrome Society recently released a new campaign in honor of World Down Syndrome Day.

The message: "Assume that I can. So Maybe I will."

“ I think it's important for people to know that individuals who have Down syndrome are their own unique individual and that they shouldn't be stereotyped, that there's a lot that they can do," said Grace's mom, Tammy Gerenser.

Both Gerenser and Fitch have proved that this disability doesn't limit them, if anything it does the opposite especially when they have the support of loved ones.

"We never put any limitations on him and we probably pushed him a ton and we still do," said Melissa Fitch, Ryan's mom. "He still needs…a little bit more support than his siblings in different ways. Some of his siblings need more support than he does.”

Fitch attended Dos Pueblos High School and is now a junior at U.C. Davis.

His goal is to get a job after as a video editor and make movies.

For Gerenser, she continues to model, cheer, and dance her way through life.

Her goal is to make it on the big screen one day.