Now, two years on, Zyon is walking, communicating, and he loves to dance and sing. He is very observant and picks up on things quickly, and he is such a loving, happy child.

My experience taught me something very important. There is not enough positive awareness of children and adults with Down syndrome. Parents are often worried and depressed because they believe what doctors say about their children – some of them even abort their babies because of this misconception.

From my anger at this misconception, there came birth of "Have Ya Heard? The Ability of Downs".. The site www.hyhonline.com (HYH Online) was designed to promote positive awareness, provide information on Down syndrome, resources, reviews and many more things to come.

HYH Online will give hope to new and existing parents that feel as though there is no hope. What a parent believes will have a huge impact on their child’s outcome, as it does with any child. My goal is to help others to find that hope and to let them know that blessings always come in disguise. For more information visit us at HYH Online (website listed above) or send us an email to admin@hyhonline.com.

It is incredibly important to find out how your complex handles security issues. Find out from an apartment representative whether or not they have any type of security guards on site. Ask if they re-key apartments once old tenants move out. Maybe you'd feel more comfortable in an apartment close to police department. A good friend of mine lives about a block away from Arlington police department, and I feel so much safer when I leave there at night. On weekends, there's usually a cop car that cruises around to make sure everything's fine. It helps you sleep a little easier. Unfortunately, not every complex can all cram around police department. This is why you must research area to determine how safe it is.

Remember: just because an apartment looks "clean" doesn't mean that it is. Find out about neighborhood crime statistics. APB News provides a general idea of neighborhood safety in U.S. on their web site. You just enter in zip code you’re wondering about and hit return and you’ll find out level of safety on a scale of one to ten.

Once you've discussed both maintenance and security issues with representatives of potential apartments, you should be able to make a confident decision on which place you will decide to call home.