I found an article recently where a person with Down syndrome answered some questions about how he felt about having Down syndrome and about his life. He is name is Jonas Sippel and he is an actor from Berlin. His answers are simple and some made me laugh, so I thought I would share them with you.

The original article can be found here: Vice

What’s crappy about having Down syndrome?
Jonas Sippel: It’s pretty annoying. For example, I often deviate from a subject, when I don’t find it interesting. But people with Down syndrome can’t do anything about having an extra chromosome. Some say we have a mental handicap. That isn’t exactly true.

I am indeed a little limited when it comes to certain abilities, which to others come easy, but I know quite a lot about history, and I have a very good memory too. I know the Iliad and the Odyssey almost by heart—and Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen too.

Is there anything you’d like to be able to do, that people who don’t have Down syndrome can?
If I didn’t have Down syndrome, I wouldn’t be the same person—and I like who I am. There are a lot of things that I would like to be able to do of course, but nobody can do them. For example, I would like to found a league of superheroes and be able to create my own superheroes.

Is it annoying that you can recognize Down syndrome just by looking at someone’s face?
The fact that you can see it isn’t so bad. But when someone tries to reduce me to my Down syndrome, that annoys me.

Why do people with Down syndrome always laugh so much?
If something is funny, then we laugh. Or when we’re being mischievous—though that’s not so nice.

How hard is it to find a partner?
It’s pretty tricky. I’m waiting for the right person, but I don’t really believe in love anymore. I used to have a girlfriend, but it didn’t really lead to anything. Maybe it’s my fate—I’m not sure I’m made for relationships.

Would you prefer it if a girlfriend of yours also had Down syndrome, or not?
That’s a good question. I actually would rather not have a girlfriend with Down syndrome because I have it, and it’s not always easy. But it would also be fine if my girlfriend had Down.

What about children?
I love children, and it’s a big wish of mine to have my own children. But you really have to want it, and I’m still searching for what I really want.

Would you have your baby tested for Down syndrome before it was born?
You’re talking about abortion, right? I would give anything to have a child—even if it had Down syndrome. But I would have to decide that together with my wife, of course.

What do you think about the fact that some people have abortions, when they find out their baby will have Down syndrome?
Good people love children, whether they have Down or not. If you abort a child with Down syndrome—I’ll say this flat out—then you’re a bad person.

Do you wish you didn’t have Down syndrome?
That would be amazing, obviously. But I’m actually a really normal person, just with an extra chromosome and a scar on my chest, from my heart operation. I don’t feel disabled. It’s more like, I feel that half of me is affected by Down syndrome and the other half functions properly.