Debbie van der Zande finds criticism of her disabled son ‘scandalous’ | RTL Street
RTL Street Gate ·1 minute ago·Modified: 1 minute ago
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When Debbie van der Zande (49) from Twente posted some fashion videos for her online clothing store a few years ago, they were an immediate hit. She gained hundreds of thousands of followers in a short time and rapidly expanded her empire. She has now also published her own cookbook. However, Debbie doesn’t only receive nice feedback for her success. In Realitea she talks about the downside of this.
“I will abuse Duuk on social media to gain followers.”
Anyone who looks at Debby’s Instagram account today will come across mainly cooking videos and personal vlogs. For example, she regularly films her son Doc, who was born with an intellectual disability. In this way, she presents a realistic view of her life, but on the website Realitea, Debby says she gets a lot of criticism for it.
“I may abuse Duuk on social media to gain followers, but that doesn’t make sense, does it?” she wonders aloud about the comments she receives. “So my three other kids who are ‘normal’ behaviorally are allowed to use it, but I’m not allowed to put my disabled kid on it? Well, I find that completely outrageous.” According to Debbie, Duuk actually enjoys appearing in her videos. “And I don’t think you should turn those kids away. I’m very proud of Duuk.”
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Debbie is proud of what she and her partner Michelle have accomplished so far with Duke. “I could have also put him on the couch and taken Ritalin and not had to worry about it. But we chose to let Duke have all his feelings, all his tantrums and temper tantrums. And then just take care of yourself. I’m going to sleep one less night.”
What does Debbie actually think about people copying her videos and accent? You can watch the full episode of Realitea below.
“Web maven. Infuriatingly humble beer geek. Bacon fanatic. Typical creator. Music expert.”