So 1Tim SoC. BustamanteEnglish 102 02015 September 2008The Story of AnnaEver since I was a kid, I always wondered how people with Down Syndrome lived their lives, if it was any different than ours. Most of us would see them as different people but wouldn’t say anything because of the fear that we might offend them. Anna Dribin, the sister of my brother’s girlfriend Liz, is a 25 year old living with Down syndrome. She lives at home with her two parents. She has two sisters, one who is younger, Liz, and one who is older, Sarah. She graduated from Niles North High School and currently works at a movie theater. I chose to interview Anna because I admire people who can overcome obstacles that would be very hard for most other people to overcome. The things that are a part of our everyday lives, for example, driving or riding a bike just to name a few, are almost impossible for people with Down syndrome. The constant challenges of people making fun of you or look at you differently just because you have a disability. Even being a person without a disability, it can be hard getting over certain things that people might say, but to have Down syndrome and people doing it everywhere you go would only make it harder. I would like to find out how people with Down syndrome live their everyday life and how it differs from our own, I would also like to find out the challenges they face and how they overcome them. The morning of the interview was no different than any other morning. The alarm clock started buzzing and like every other day, I try to sleep through it until I realize thatSo 2its time for me to get up. When I’m finally awake I sit up on my bed and a cool breeze from the window next to me send chills down my back, and I rush to get into a hot shower to warm my body up. As I’m in the shower I begin to think about the day ahead of me and if there’s anything special I need to do, then I remembered that the interview that I scheduled with Anna was today. When I got out of the shower I got dressed and began to eat my breakfast, as I was eating I made sure that I had all of my materials for the interview and double-checked my questions I wrote, just to make sure I didn’t leave anything out. The interview was still a few hours away and it was a chilly and rainy day. Since any type of outdoor activity was out of the question I decided to watch TV to pass time. Since I had never met Anna or her mother before I thought it would be awkward forme to go to her house alone so I asked my brother, who was very familiar with Anna and her mother, to come with me to make me feel more comfortable. At first he didn’t want tocome with me because he had better things to do, but as it got closer to the time of the interview, I finally convinced him to ride along. The ride to Anna’s house felt a little longer then I remembered (having going there before to drop Liz off but never actually going inside to meet anyone) maybe because I was a little bit nervous about the interview.As we got closer to the house, the rain drops hit the windshield less often and the grayish sky started to clear up, almost as if it stopped so we could get from the car to the house without getting wet.When we got to the house my heart was beating a little faster and my palms started to get a little sweaty, I knocked on the front door and waited a little bit until Anna let my brother and me in. Once inside, Anna moved the cats to the basement, knowing that my brother is allergic to them, and we greeted each other for the first time. SheSo 3offered me a seat and a drink, but I told her I wasn’t thirsty. We waited in the living room until Anna’s mom got there. I couldn’t start the interview until Anna’s mom was there, so that she could help clarify anything if I got confused. Anna my brother and I sat in the living room for a few minuets and an awkward silence filled the room, nobody knowing what to say to one another. Anna finally broke the silence by asking my brother how he was doing and he replied by saying that everything was good. After a few minuets of sitting in the middle of the awkward silence, Anna’s mom opened the door and apologized for being late. I told her not to worry about it as she gave my brother a hug and made her way towards me. Anna’s mom sat down and I started the interview. The first question I asked Anna was how it felt to be a person with a disability. Anna then gazed into a blank stare as she was trying to find the best answer. After what seemed to be a couple minuets but were only a few seconds, Anna told me that it felt good. I thought to myself, how could living with a disability like this feel good? Was it because Anna never lived a day without Down syndrome, and she didn’t know what it was like to live without it? I then asked Anna to elaborate. She thought about it again and then she told me an answer that I was more expecting to hear, she told me that it was hardliving with a disability, and that she did need help doing certain things. I thought to myself how hard it would be for me to live with this kind of disability and if I would be able to overcome it.“What challenges do you face everyday?” I asked Anna, hoping that she could shed some light on what she goes through everyday.“People tease me everyday, and treat me differently just because I have a disability,” Anna replied, and I could see the hurt in her eyes as she continued to say,So 4“eventually you learn to ignore those kinds of people, and another thing I would like to do, is drive a car but it’s hard for me because my legs are too short.”I couldn’t imagine not being able to drive a car and having to find rides everywhere I go. Also the constant hassle of going places and not knowing what they’ll say. I continued the interview and before I asked Anna the next question, I hesitated a little bit, unsure if the next question would make her sad like the first one. After a few seconds of hesitation I asked Anna if she noticed if people treated her differently because of her disability. Again I could sense a bit of sadness before she answered. She explained how at work everybody treated everybody else normally, but some people treated Anna like a little kid, and the ones who didn’t treat her like a little kid acted …
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