We have to fight for Down's syndrome

People see people with Down's syndrome as abnormal. Those who make fun of me, I ignore. Period. That’s how I feel as a Down's sufferer. You have to say to yourself: “I’ve got more chromosomes than them.”

When Éléonore was born, the doctors considered her a “chromosomal aberration” and urged her parents not to get attached to her. With Down's syndrome and a heart defect, they gave her little chance of survival. Twenty-eight years later, Éléonore is more alive than ever. Now an independent adult, she recounts her years of struggle with her parents to remain in a mainstream environment, and her refusal to be reduced to her illness. With humor, she shares her daily life, between her two-room apartment, her “job,” her tumultuous love affairs and her passion for pop rock. Éléonore is determined to change people’s perception of Down's Syndrome.

Éléonore Laloux works at a private hospital in Arras. She is the spokesperson for the Amis d’Éléonore collective, which fights against the stigmatization of Down’s Syndrome. Yann Barte is a journalist. A former reporter and political editor, he has been working on disability issues for several years.