Events for Down Syndrome day 2014 organized in Lyon by Alliance pour la Trisomie 21

On the occasion of Down Syndrome World Day 2014, the Alliance pour la Trisomie 21 organized an evening followed by a day of conferences in Lyon. The evening of March 21st started with a theater play "6% Working People » by the company ALTEA/ALGED, performed by five actors including three with Down Syndrome. The play uses comic situations to undermine stereotypes on handicap in the working world. The short movie "Moi tout seul » (me alone) by Sylvie Ballyot was then shown. It deals with beginning of adulthood and independence through the story of the relationship between a lone mother (Lubna Azabal) and her teenage with Down Syndrome (Ismail Fresli). M. Fresli admirably serves this movie full of emotions by subtle, spontaneous and sincere acting. The evening ended by a debate on the movie and a pizza buffet. The morning of saturday was devoted to scientific medical presentations in a very beautiful room of the Hôtel de Région: ORL problems, by Dr Dexpert of the AFRT; sleeping apneas by Dr de Fréminville from CHU St-Étienne; an ongoing clinical study in Spain on the potential benefits of green tea (EGCG hormone) on cognitive capacities of people with Down Syndrome by Dr de la Torre. Pr Sanlaville (CHU Lyon, Mother-Child Hospital) also did a presentation of prenatal screening and diagnosis. After lunch and a rapid fashion show by young adults with DS, the afternoon continued with a series of panels, especially on accessibility and love life. All the slides and videos are available on the website of Alliance pour la Trisomie 21 : http://www.alliance-trisomie.org/JT21/JT2014/main.html. What we will keep in mind from this day are the last sentences of Pr Sanlaville’s presentation borrowed from Pr J.-F. Mattei : «Mais il faudrait surtout développer encore et toujours l’accueil des personnes handicapées dans notre société pour que les familles ne se sentent plus abandonnées dans l’adversité. Ces personnes handicapées ont toute leur place parmi nous parce qu’elles détiennent une parcelle de la même humanité que nous » (But what should still be developed is the integration of handicapped people in our society so that families no longer feel abandoned in adversity. These handicapped people have their place among us since they hold a parcel of the same humanity than us"… (This text was also published in the letter of the ARIST nº48, May, June 2014).