Despite advancements in disability inclusion, people with Down syndrome still regularly face discrimination. However, that discrimination is now often less direct and masked by flimsy explanations for why they are often excluded from activities at school, in the workplace and elsewhere. 

Creative agency Small highlighted that more subtle—yet equally ableist—form of discrimination in a TikTok campaign last March for CoorDown, an Italian nonprofit organization focused on protecting the rights of people with Down syndrome.

The TikTok push centered on a two-minute video featuring reenactments of five actual excuses those with Down syndrome (or their parents) received from teachers, coworkers and others as to why they wouldn’t be able to participate in classes, meetings or activities such as sports or summer camps. 

Each excuse is punctuated by a sardonically cheerful jingle that repeats the campaign’s name: “Ridiculous Excuses Not to Be Inclusive.”

After posting the initial TikTok video, Small and CoorDown encouraged viewers with Down syndrome to share their own experiences with thinly veiled discrimination in videos with the hashtag #RidiculousExcuses.

More than 3,000 people offered their stories either in the comments sections of CoorDown’s videos or in their own TikToks—including influencer and actress Madison Tevlin, who went on to star in CoorDown’s viral “Assume That I Can” campaign earlier this year (also created by Small). CoorDown shared several of those user-submitted stories on its own TikTok channel.