“My Sister Taught me how to Live” – Jamie Foxx on His Sister who has Down Syndrome

Getting Oscars, Grammies and similar awards is a great achievement, but oftentimes there are a lot better things in life than winning a Grammy. That’s the case with Oscar and Grammy award winner Jamie Fox. There’s no doubt in the fact that he is a global superstar, but according to him, there’s another, much better talent living in his house, with him. He is speaking about his younger sister, DeOndra Dixon.

According to Jamie, DeOndra has always been and will be the star of his life. She is suffering from Down syndrome, but this stopped her from achieving much bigger things than winning a Grammy or an Oscar.

DeOndra has been living with Jamie since she graduated from her high school back in 2002. She is an ambitious and vivacious 34-year-old lady, and her disability hasn’t stopped her from teaching her brother “how to live” as he puts it.

He explained in an interview that back then, they didn’t know a lot about Down syndrome. So, his mother kept DeOndra ‘normal’. Dixon had it all. When she started going to school, she wanted to join the choir, and her mother allowed that. DeOndra didn’t let her disabilities set her back from the others. Foxx stated that he was scared about her growing up and how she would cope with being an adult. But, she showed everybody, including her brother, that when you have the right people around you, everything is possible.
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Foxx also added that his family is treating her sister just like they treat any other member of the family. He even said that she’s always under the spotlight at family dinners and parties. He remembers how their siblings’ mother always encouraged his sister to do whatever she wants to do. Today, DeOndra is the ambassador for the Global Down Syndrome Foundation.

In an interview with this foundation, Foxx was asked about the things his sister taught him over the course of his life, and his answer amazed everybody there. He said that she had taught him how to live.

Foxx took in his sister and let her blossom under his roof, and he has never shied away from including her in his stage life as well. He was dancing with him at the Grammys, and he had even included her in a video for his single “Blame it.”

The people at the Global Down Syndrome Foundation including its president Michelle Sie Whitten all see Dixon as achieved a person as her brother (some think she actually achieved more). The president stated that the most essential thing that people with Down syndrome need is to be surrounded by people who care about them.

Everything is different today; there are hundreds of people like Dixon, who are role models for other people with disabilities. And with the impact that the GDSF has made, the Down syndrome of the past isn’t the same with the one from today!

People with Down syndrome are applying to more and more jobs. And, according to Whitten, there are more and more people who are trying to get into college, and some even are trying to get married.

What do you think of Dixon’s story? Do you agree with the GDSF president’s opinion that good people around can help people with disabilities? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section below! Don’t forget to share this story and spread a good message on your social media accounts.

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