The success of the adult with Down syndrome is possible

There are some Persistent misconceptions about people with Down syndrome. One of them, says the non-profit foundation Global, dedicated to research, medical care, education and legal assistance, is that people with this condition are eternal childrenwhich as they age will continue to be totally dependent.

Adults with Down syndrome have shown that they can live independently, have a job, and raise a family. The number of people making it with limited assistance from family or state members, after graduation and continuing education, is growing in the United States. And a small percentage is able to live without these aids.

Today there are more opportunities for education and employment than before, and although public and private policies are decisive for this to be the case, family life has an important weightas shared by the special educator Malena Bonilla de Crespo.

“Children with Down syndrome, with their tenderness, captivate us. But they will all become teenagers, and you have to face it, they are not eternal children!”. This is one of the constant reminders that Bonilla makes, that he has seen the effects of giving support in the right way and measure.

She talks about the example of one of her students, Alfredo Ceballos Jalon, 31 years old. “He is multifaceted in his gifts, neat, responsible, cheerful. He belonged to the modern dance group, to the group of acrylic painters; he was a television actor and standard bearer of the national flag in Fasinarm”, he lists. Upon graduating from high school, he went to the Vocational Training Center (CEVE), and now works at the lobby of a restaurant in Guayaquil.

How do i do it? “Since he was born, we have treated him like a regular boy.”, relates the mother, Cecilia de Ceballos. “We knew that he had Down syndrome, but we wanted to treat him in such a way that his self-esteem would always be very high, which is the main thing. The psychologist told me: ‘If you were strict with your older children, with him you will be a hundred times more’”.

Cecilia took the recommendation seriously. “I was very strict with him, but out of love. If he was rude, I didn’t laugh, I called his attention. This bore the fruit of it over time, because Alfredo is an educated, sociable person; he participates in everything: worked in Latam, was an actor, was a model; everything has been presented to him in stages.” And at the current stage, Alfredo is an employee of McDonald’s.

His arrival to that place is a story of several years. Fasinarm organized an art event in which the students had to paint how they imagined their life in the future. Alfredo, 14 years old at the time, shaped his own: the church (he is a believer), a drum kit (he loves music), a soccer ball (he is a Barcelona fan), some wedding rings (he plans to get married) and, in the end, the food chain logo.

“Back then, one of my sons was the manager of one of those stores, and I think his dream was to see himself like that, like his brother. But time passed and I forgot.” Alfredo had his first job, he left there, and in that time something happened that Cecilia sees as providential: someone bought Alfredo’s painting from Fasinarm and gave it to the manager of McDonald’s.

“When he saw her, he said: ‘This is the life of this young man, call him and give him a job.’ And so a search began until he found the artist, who was only known to be Alfredo C., because of the signature on the painting. Through Fasinarm, they found the young man, who has been serving there for four years.

Alfredo continues to paint: he likes mandala coloring books; but he also enjoys karaoke. “It has surprised me. He knows how to swim, play tennis, table tennis; nobody has taught him”, says Cecilia, who thinks her son has a photographic memory: he learns by seeing.

But what most attracts Alfredo’s attention, he thinks, is his discipline and sociability. “He loves being in the conversation; although he does not use long sentences, he understands perfectly”. Therefore, received the opportunity to act in the telenovela Rosita the taxi driver (Ecuavisa)in which he played the role of Goyito.

Cecilia highlights the role of CEVE in Alfredo’s training. “They instruct them to learn to work, so that they have work resistance.” But she also highlights that this education begins at home, from childhood. “Don’t think that because he has Down syndrome you have to leave him, because he can’t. No. One educates them. I looked for someone to teach Alfredo etiquette, and he eats perfectly. These children learn everything, and once they do, they never forget it. That is the main base, and it happens until the 9-10 years”.

For Cecilia, it is a great satisfaction to say that Alfredo is an orderly man, independent in his personal affairs. “And everything was the upbringing of the first years, but not only of the parents, but of the family in general; everyone has to participate.” Thus, she notices the similarities in his behavior and that of his brothers. “and he is a worker, because he sees us all working; for him, that is the guideline”.

The young man also fully enjoys life. He has traveled without his parents, with the group of his classmates with Down syndrome (he brought home a trophy from a dance competition). “He loves to dance and do phonomimics,” says Cecilia, while she shows a video in which Alfredo performs the song by Diego Torres Hope color, during a Christmas festival in which one of the invited artists did not appear and the show had to be saved. So the family, aware of his talents, did not hesitate. “We send it to the stage”. (F)