No Decision Without Us: A powerful campaign for disability inclusion
Story by Leila Hawkins
Photo: screengrab from NO DECISION WITHOUT US | World Down Syndrome Day 2025, a campaign by CoorDown
A powerful new music video starring Mia Noelle Rodriguez, a 16-year-old actress and singer with Down syndrome, is calling for the inclusion of people with disabilities in decision-making at all levels worldwide.
The video, titled No Decision Without Us, opens in the bedroom of Sophia (played by Rodriguez), where her parents are deciding what dress their daughter should wear to a wedding without asking for her opinion. Sophia then bursts into the room, insisting on having a say.
The scenes that follow are an empowering portrayal of people with diverse disabilities using the medium of song to call for change. Among them is a wheelchair user demanding a seat at the meeting where a new train station is being planned, and a blind person at an airport highlighting how a touchscreen information point is useless if you can’t see it. A person with a motor disability and another with an intellectual disability confront a politician in Parliament, asking to be present where laws are written.
The central theme is simple: decisions that shape the world should not be made without the input of people with disabilities, whether at work, school, public spaces, or for personal matters.
CoorDown (the Coordination of Associations of People with Down Syndrome) is behind the campaign, launched to tie in with World Down Syndrome Day on March 21. Its timing is particularly significant, as the fight for inclusion is facing new challenges with a global pushback against DEI initiatives that risks undoing decades of progress.
Actress Caterina Scorsone, known for her role in Grey’s Anatomy, plays Sophia’s mother in the video, and has a daughter with Down syndrome in real life. In a press release, she shared her perspective on the campaign: “I wanted to work with this incredible team of performers, choreographers and filmmakers because at this moment in history we are being called to speak up in a way that is critically important. We are being called to examine who in our global community is invited to participate in decisions that form the very structure of our society.
“People with disabilities have fought tirelessly to have their voices heard in the rooms where decisions are made. They have done some of the heaviest lifting in the struggle for equity and equality for all. The many struggles and triumphs in the fight for disability rights illuminates the uncomfortable but important fact that consent is only possible when access to the mechanisms and arenas of decision-making is possible.”
CoorDown’s President, Martina Fuga, emphasised the urgency of the message: “We all know the weight of having decisions made by others, without being able to express our voice. The fact is that people with disabilities experience this frustration every day. They face it in their private lives, at school, at work, in the spaces they inhabit, when they travel, and in social life. After years of slow but significant progress toward a more inclusive world, today we are facing a worrying setback. With this campaign, we join our voice with all people with disabilities, launching a call to action that transcends every division and barrier.”
World Down Syndrome Day was established by the UN in 2007, with the aim of raising awareness and promoting respect and inclusion in society for people with Down syndrome. The choice of date is not accidental: March 21 (the 21st day of the third month) was chosen because Down syndrome is caused by the presence of an extra chromosome — three instead of two — in the 21st chromosomal pair within the cells.
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