Houston Vandergriff, a 23-year-old boy who was diagnosed with Down Syndrome since birth has now become an award-winning photographer who has visited approximately 30 countries. His Instagram page, ‘Downs and Towns’ now has close to 13 thousand followers! In the year 2019, he got his photography certification at the University of Tennessee. Houston plans to open his own print shop where he would sell his work.
His mother Katie Vandergriff said in an interview, “He has a big personality, (sic) he doesn’t meet a stranger. He has so much joy and so much love in his heart for people. He’s definitely a people person. We’ve been very blessed to be able to travel and do things and he just opened so many doors, you know, again, he never meets a stranger. It doesn’t matter the language, it doesn’t matter the anything, he just he loves everybody.”
She further said, “Families that are given the diagnosis of Down syndrome or, or some other special needs, and they’ve given it with such as sadness and, you know, we want to say no no no it’s a gift and it’s special and we want people to say congratulations. Instead of I’m sorry.”
