{"id":15634,"date":"2017-10-06T08:09:00","date_gmt":"2017-10-06T12:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/?p=15634"},"modified":"2024-12-23T16:02:50","modified_gmt":"2024-12-23T21:02:50","slug":"lauren-potter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/lauren-potter\/","title":{"rendered":"Lauren Potter: “Being Different Isn’t Bad – Different Is Just Different!”"},"content":{"rendered":"

“A long time ago when I was very little, I dreamed about being on stage. Some people told me I would never be able to do it, so I only paid attention to those who told me that I could.”<\/em><\/h3>\n

Diagnosed with Down syndrome as a baby, Lauren Potter <\/a>is an actress who has proven that a disability does not always preclude success.\u00a0 At the young age of two, Lauren found interest in the arts and started taking dance lessons.\u00a0 As she grew older and became enamored of acting, she took drama at Riverside Polytechnic High School and found acting roles. \u00a0In 2009, her life changed when she received a phone call for an opportunity on a new musical show, Glee<\/em>.\u00a0 This show, which ran from 2009-2015, enabled Lauren to enjoy an acting career, while simultaneously becoming a role model for those with disabilities.<\/p>\n

Lauren\u2019s thespian work includes parts on Law & Order: SVU<\/em>, Glee<\/em>, Leader of the Pack<\/em>, Veep<\/em>, Switched at Birth<\/em>, Guest Room<\/em>, Mr. Blue Sky<\/em>, and Born This Way<\/em>.\u00a0 She received the SAG\/AFTRA Harold Russell Award at the 2012 Media Access Awards and was nominated for a SAG award for her role in Glee<\/em>. \u00a0Her role on Glee<\/em> led to many fans, as she inspired people with and without disabilities. \u00a0Viewers around the world tuned in each week as Lauren played Becky Jackson, a mentally handicapped student who manages to join the cheerleading squad and soften up the impenetrable coach, played by Jane Lynch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Lauren<\/p>\n

Outside of her acting career, she is an advocate for disability awareness and inclusion.\u00a0\u00a0In 2011, President Obama placed Lauren on the President\u2019s Committee for People with\u00a0Intellectual Disabilities,<\/a> where issues affecting the\u00a0disabled are discussed. \u00a0She works with Ability Path<\/a> in an effort to stop bullying, and is a voice in the Spread the Word to End the Word<\/a> campaign, which speaks out against the R-word.\u00a0 In 2015, Lauren was an ambassador for the Special Olympics World Games, lending her voice to the organization.<\/p>\n

Please contact us if you would like to book Lauren Potter<\/a> for your next event.
\nFor further speakers on related topics, check out the\u00a0Keynote Speakers Lists<\/a>\u00a0on our website!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“A long time ago when I was very little, I dreamed about being on stage. Some people told me I would never be able to do it, so I only paid attention to those who told me that I could.” Diagnosed with Down syndrome as a baby, Lauren Potter is an actress who has proven […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":15635,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[262],"tags":[678,331,1206,1205,267,275,1204],"class_list":{"0":"post-15634","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-speaker-spotlight","8":"tag-actress","9":"tag-disability","10":"tag-down-syndrome","11":"tag-glee","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-inspiring","14":"tag-lauren-potter"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Lauren-Potter-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15634"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15634\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18625,"href":"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15634\/revisions\/18625"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allamericanspeakers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}