The first episode of Born This Way aired on the A&E Television Station in December 2015. This documentary series features seven young adults born with Down syndrome. The series follows Elena, Megan, Steven, Sean, Rachel, Cristina, and John as they navigate through life. The show details their trials and tribulations while providing educational moments that are invaluable to viewers. The show unravels many topics that show the complexities and raw emotions of the characters. According to A&E’s description “Throughout the series, they pursue their passions and lifelong dreams, explore friendships, romantic relationships and work, all while defying society’s expectations” (A&E). The show also shares the perspective of the parents. The parents share the joys and challenges experienced while raising a child born with Down syndrome. Among the topics discussed are: independence, romantic relationships, career, family, and dealing with a wide range of emotions.

As an individual in the rehabilitation counseling discipline, I was initially skeptical about the show. I thought that the producers of the show would exploit or make fun of individuals with Down syndrome. Instead, the show’s level of authenticity defied my expectations. It illustrated how individualistic the diagnosis of Down syndrome can be. The show is well done, funny, heartwarming, sad, genuine, and authentic. I would highly recommend it to both counselors and counselor-educators. This show can help counselors in practice to better understand individuals with Down syndrome. It can also be utilized by counselor educators when teaching about various disabilities in the classroom setting. Additionally, counselor-educators can explore psychosocial aspects of Down syndrome with their students.