SammyCalls

Sam, Jenna and Kevin come up with the best prank ever in honor of the full moon!

Sam Balegno has Down Syndrome, lives in Massachusetts and eats a lot of pizza. Jenna Balegno (his older sister) lives in California, has a dog named Norman and eats a lot of pizza. Listen in on their casual and candid phone calls to each other and get a little insight on what it means to have Down Syndrome… and more importantly… what it doesn't mean. #knowdownsyndrome

We've been gone for two weeks because Sam wouldn't talk to Jenna after she BEAT HIM in their first week matchup of Fantasy Football... but we are back folks!

Sam Balegno has Down Syndrome, lives in Massachusetts and eats a lot of pizza. Jenna Balegno (his older sister) lives in California, has a dog named Norman and eats a lot of pizza. Listen in on their casual and candid phone calls to each other and get a little insight on what it means to have Down Syndrome… and more importantly… what it doesn't mean. know #downsyndrome

This week Jenna went home for a visit, a Fantasy Football draft and a whole lot more... Sam Balegno has Down Syndrome, lives in Massachusetts and eats a lot of pizza. Jenna Balegno (his older sister) lives in California, has a dog named Norman and eats a lot of pizza. Listen in on their casual and candid phone calls to each other and get a little insight on what it means to have Down Syndrome… and more importantly… what it doesn't mean. know #downsyndrome

Welcome to the SammyCalls podcast! This week, Sammy talks about his recent prom, watches a video from a few really cool fans and tells us his top picks for fantasy football. Sam Balegno has Down Syndrome, lives in Massachusetts and eats a lot of pizza. Jenna Balegno (his older sister) lives in California, has a dog named Norman and eats a lot of pizza. Listen in on their casual and candid phone calls to each other and get a little insight on what it means to have Down Syndrome… and more importantly… what it doesn't mean. know #downsyndrome Watch the Video!

Welcome to the SammyCalls podcast!

This week, Sammy updates us on his group home mission and is introduced to Twitter.

Sam Balegno has Down Syndrome, lives in Massachusetts and eats a lot of pizza. Jenna Balegno (his older sister) lives in California, has a dog named Norman and eats a lot of pizza. Listen in on their casual and candid phone calls to each other and get a little insight on what it means to have Down Syndrome… and more importantly… what it doesn't mean.

know #downsyndrome

Sammy starts a game with Jenna and Kevin that gets HEATED! Who do you love more?!

The whole episode this week is basically just a back and forth game of "Who/what do you love more?" between Sam, Kevin and I. Sammy cooked this one up himself and the actual conversation went on for over an hour (this is essentially the highlight reel).

Sammy's mind works in mysterious ways. I love when he just goes off the cuff, gets creative and is so interactive like this. This is when his personality shines through and he really is brilliant… and kind of weird (just like me – minus the brilliant part).

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Sam Balegno has Down Syndrome, lives in Massachusetts and eats a lot of pizza. Jenna Balegno (his older sister) lives in California, has a dog named Norman and eats a lot of pizza. Listen in on their casual and candid phone calls to each other and get a little insight on what it means to have Down Syndrome… and more importantly… what it doesn't mean.

Welcome to the SammyCalls podcast!

This week is a special episode... Sammy tells us some pretty big news and we talk to both my mom and my dad about it! We hope you enjoy!

Sam Balegno has Down Syndrome, lives in Massachusetts and eats a lot of pizza. Jenna Balegno (his older sister) lives in California, has a dog named Norman and eats a lot of pizza. Listen in on their casual and candid phone calls to each other and get a little insight on what it means to have Down Syndrome… and more importantly… what it doesn't mean.

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My relationship with my brother is definitely different. I've known forever that he has Down Syndrome but it seems like every few years of my life I have come to some epiphany about us...

When I was in first grade, I thought that I was born with Down Syndrome too. That I grew out of it and Sam would eventually too. My parents had to somehow break it to me that I actually never had Down Syndrome, and that Sam was special.

When I moved away to college, I met a whole new group of friends and realized that not everyone knows someone with Down Syndrome... and that some people don't even know what it is at all. It just never crossed my mind that I would have to explain what it was to someone, because I just assumed everyone knew.

Then a couple of years ago, when Sam came out to visit me without my parents, I was forced to address the fact that a large portion of my relationship with my brother consists of this very blurry line between being his sibling and being his caretaker. I had been completely unaware of that reality up until that point.

So when Sammy told us this week that he was thinking about moving into a group home, I got this wave of emotion that I was not expecting. I felt scared and almost sad about it. Of course, I am fully supportive of him being more independent but I think my inner caretaker kicked in and all of a sudden I was worried for him. This is where Sammy swoops in and demonstrates his incredibly insightful side. He comforted me. He told me that he'd been through what I am going through emotionally. That he had to watch me move away to college in South Carolina, and then the West Coast. That he was worried about me too... but that he had to let go. I don't think anyone could have comforted me more in that moment. He brought me back to being his sister.

This week we have a special SammyPRANKS episode for you!! Listen in on Sammy pranking not one, but TWO people in 15 minutes. The guy is a master pranker. Enjoy!

Sam Balegno has Down Syndrome, lives in Massachusetts and eats a lot of pizza. Jenna Balegno (his older sister) lives in California, has a dog named Norman and eats a lot of pizza. Listen in on their casual and candid phone calls to each other and get a little insight on what it means to have Down Syndrome… and more importantly… what it doesn't mean.

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If you have listened to the first few episodes of this podcast or have ever met Sam Balegno, you know he has an amazing sense of humor. In the more recent years, Sammy has become obsessed with pranks. He watches hours of them on YouTube and then tries some of them out on my parents or any other innocent bystander who happens to be in his vicinity. He has gotten pretty good at them. I'm almost positive he got my Dad to drink toilet water once. Anyways, this episode, Sammy manages to prank my dad AND Kevin in about a 15 minute time frame and it is hysterical. He was actually wearing a mask for this entire phone call, I wish I thought to take a screenshot so I could share it here.

Sam and I hope you get as big a kick out of it as we did... Enjoy!