Laura, a young woman with Down syndrome speaks about her life and goals. She graduated from a general education program, went on to become an advocate, an athlete, an activist for the disabled community and an educator. This is the first in a series of three episodes.
Video with transcript: https://youtu.be/Su9LTiwiyGQ
Laura, a young woman with Down syndrome talks about her life and goals.
For more information about Down syndrome, see here.
FROM THIS EPISODE:
DEC - Disability Equity Center
Unified Sports - Special Olympics
Oregon Health & Science University
BOOK:
The Shape of the Eye by George Estreich
[00:00:00] Laura: I am friendly, caring, passionate. I'm strong and I'm powerful. I am very honest.
[00:00:13] Carole: Laura Estreich is a 21-year-old woman living in Oregon with her parents. She's an advocate, a community activist, the sister of Ellie, and the daughter of George and Theresa Estreich.
[00:00:25] Welcome to Wisdom Shared, where parents and their children are the experts and where connection inspires change. I am your host, Carole Blueweiss.
[00:00:37] In this episode of Wisdom Shared, I have as my special guest Laura Estreich, who shares with us her wide range of athletic interests, her experience with vocational programs, and her dreams for her own future. Laura was born with an extra copy of her 21st chromosome. The medical word for this is trisomy 21, which is also known as Down syndrome.
[00:01:03] It's important to know that not all people with Down syndrome are the same and not all people with the diagnosis of Down syndrome have that extra copy of the 21st chromosome. Although most do. There are other variations, though. And just like Laura's story is a story about one individual and just like each person listening here has their own story, so are people that have Down syndrome unique.
[00:01:34] As a baby, Laura survived a successful heart surgery, and she went on to complete a high school degree in a general education classroom. I reached out to George first. And when he agreed to be interviewed, I asked him if he would please ask Laura, if she would be interested in also being on my podcast. And thankfully she said yes, and now we will hear from Laura. And at the end, Laura in dialogue with George, her dad. Let's listen.
[00:02:11] What did I forget to do?
[00:02:14] Laura: Recording?
[00:02:16] Carole: Yeah! We were just talking for like five minutes and I forgot to record. Oy yai yai. Let's start again. I asked you, what's your full name, how old you are, and where you live?
[00:02:27] Laura: I am Laura Estreich. I am 21 years old. I am from Oregon. That's my hometown, born here, raised here, I live here. And I live with my parents. I have a sister named Ellie.
[00:02:42] Carole: What are some things you like to do?
[00:02:45] Laura: I like listening to music and being active, eating healthy, spending time with my friends, biking, and swimming. I love bowling. I love playing basketball. So I've been watching college women's basketball.
[00:03:05] Carole: What's your favorite team?
[00:03:07] Laura: My favorite team is UConn.
[00:03:08] Carole: Me too! Anything else you want to say about your hobbies?
[00:03:13] Laura: Yes, I am big on Pinterest. I'm a social media fan. I like reading a lot, the news on my phone every day.
[00:03:23] Carole: That's great.
[00:03:24] Laura: Yeah.
[00:03:25] Carole: I wish my son would read the news. What do you love about your parents?
[00:03:30] Laura: They're both lovely great role models to me. They are great being professors. This one is great daddy because passion, great energy, active person, and great cooking.
[00:03:49] Carole: He sounds awesome.
[00:03:51] Laura: I think he is.
[00:03:52] Carole: What do you think about school?
[00:03:55] Laura: Oh, Carole, I love being in school a lot. I'm passionate about school and study hard. So I have been great student role model.
[00:04:06] Carole: Who do you look up to?
[00:04:07] Laura: I'm going to say my best friend Maya. She's my hero. My parents are professors and her dad's a professor too. So I am in a disablity community because I grew up in hometown includes people in disablity communities, and people with Down syndrome just like me.
[00:04:28] Carole: I see all the books in the background there. I know your dad likes books. Do you have a favorite book?
[00:04:35] Laura: My favorite book is The Shape of the Eye.
[00:04:37] Carole: Tell the audience why that's your favorite book.
[00:04:39] Laura: The Shape of the Eye I get keeping my journey, passion, my personal life. I want to be a writer like my dad. That would be awesome.
[00:04:51] Carole: What kind of book would you write?
[00:04:52] Laura: A book about different subject. I will be writing about with people autism and different kinds of disabilities.
[00:05:03] Carole: It sounds like you want to educate people and make them more aware of what it's like and maybe help people understand more?
[00:05:12] Laura: Yes, exactly, yes. For me, I'm hard to understand, because I was born, I had a heart defect, so I had a hard time when I was born. I used to have speech therapy, helping me talking, speak slow and clearly.
[00:05:28] Carole: I can tell that you're working hard on speaking slowly and clearly. It's not so easy for you, right?
[00:05:34] Laura: Right. Yeah, for me, it's hard, because people don't understand me. I'm trying to be steady in talking.
[00:05:41] Carole: Mostly, I understand your words and I'm so happy I do, because I know you have a lot you want to say. You said that you're in a vocational training?
[00:05:50] Laura: Yes, DEC it is my life, my passion. I want to advocate for myself, for my community, my hometown.
[00:06:01] George: Laura was talking about working at the Disability Equity Center and that's a community organization here. It does advocacy work for people with disabilities. Laura has been an intern there. It's a new organization, but I think that's been a great experience.
[00:06:17] Laura: Definitely. So I come in WINGS and learn about job site and learn about job skills. WINGS has two sites and this one is Harding.
[00:06:28] George: So WINGS is a transition program, right?
[00:06:31] Laura: Yes.
[00:06:32] George: So it's like after high school.
[00:06:34] Laura: Yeah.
[00:06:34] George: But before whatever's happening next, right?
[00:06:38] Laura: Right. In WINGS, I learn about different job sites, exploring other careers and jobs. So it means doing job skills and how to get around community, like take city bus and the bus maps.
[00:06:54] George: Taking the city bus.
[00:06:56] Laura: City bus.
[00:06:57] George: Yeah. Reading the bus maps, getting around the community on your own.
[00:07:02] Carole: You talked about WINGS. Is that the program after high school that you went to?
[00:07:07] Laura: Yes.
[00:07:09] Carole: What is your dream? You're 21 years old. What do you want to do now with your life?
[00:07:14] Laura: Good question, Carole. I want to be in an apartment, because I want to move out. I think it is its time for me to get an apartment with my roommate. It’s my dream with Maya.
[00:07:25] In Harding, I'm trying different job sites and different activities. The Harding group the activities includes news, business, eating lunch of course, and every Friday now we do swimming. Tomorrow is a swimming day. So, exercise at Harding is called PE. It means fun activities, like frisbee, football and bicycle, basketball.
[00:07:56] Carole: I think that doing all that physical activity and all those sports is just the best thing. I also like doing a lot of the sports that you've mentioned.
[00:08:04] Laura: Carole did I tell you, actually I play basketball in Unified in high school.
[00:08:11] Carole: You were talking about unified basketball and that's part of Special Olympics, but it's different because you have people that have a disability and you also have players that don't have disabilities. So it's like a mix of people. Is that right?
[00:08:26] Laura: Yes, that's right, yes. Kids Spirit is a summer program for the kids. doing activities like art classes.
[00:08:34] George: Activities, art classes, but you've been working over there doing like office assistant stuff.
[00:08:40] Laura: Yes, yeah.
[00:08:41] Carole: Tell me if I heard you right. You're learning a lot of things about how to be in the world. All kinds of skills, right?
[00:08:47] Laura: Yeah. That's right, yeah..
[00:08:49] Carole: So your dad told me that you speak to medical students at OHS, which is the science university, right? In Oregon?
[00:08:58] George: Oregon Health Sciences University.
[00:09:00] Laura: Doctors should know about other types. So sometimes with Down syndrome, it's different. Some people with Down syndrome their hearts are broken.
[00:09:12] George: Sometimes people are born and their hearts are broken and then it can get fixed, like happened to you.
[00:09:18] Laura: Yes.
[00:09:19] Carole: Yeah, you had a big heart surgery when you were little, right?
[00:09:22] Laura: Yes, I have a heart defect. So if someone needs their heart fixed because I didn't know about Down syndrome and disabilities. Medical doctors understand people with Down syndrome learn about Down syndrome, genetics, and growth.
[00:09:40] George: Down syndrome, genetics and growth. Yeah, you're right. They need to know all of that stuff. Yeah.
[00:09:45] Carole: Who's your favorite doctor?
[00:09:47] Laura: My favorite doctor is Dr. F.
[00:09:50] George: Dr. F is Dr. Eddie Frothingham. I think he won't mind us giving him a shout out here.
[00:09:56] Carole: I'm curious, Laura, why do you like him so much?
[00:09:58] Laura: Because he's great. He's caring for me.
[00:10:01] George: You saw him since you were very, very young.
[00:10:04] Carole: So you've known him 22 years. That's a long time.
[00:10:07] Laura: It is.
[00:10:09] Carole: Who is Laura?
[00:10:10] Laura: I am friendly, caring, passionate. I'm strong and I'm powerful. I am very honest. I keep track of my schedule.
[00:10:19] Carole: Yeah. You're very organized.
[00:10:21] Laura: Yes.
[00:10:21] George: That you are. Laura is all over the calendar. Actually, she knows most of Theresa's appointments. Theresa will ask her what her meetings are today. And so, yeah, Laura is very good on that stuff.
[00:10:32] Carole: That's great. I could see you telling your employer, yes, I will do the job and I will do it well. I wish you good luck with all that.
[00:10:40] Laura: Thank you.
[00:10:41] Carole: And I hope you can keep me posted, see where you end up working.
[00:10:45] Laura: Yeah, I'm so glad I'm part of the podcast. I dream of being on a podcast. I'll be a celebrity like "oh, it's me!"
[00:10:53] Carole: I'll be sure to tell your dad and I'll make sure he tells you when it's going to be on. And then you'll have to tell me what you think.
[00:11:00] Laura: Yes also, Carole, I totally forgot so on Friday, I go to WINGS they do podcast Friday so they know about my podcast, already.
[00:11:12] Carole: Oh, great. Podcast Fridays, that sounds really interesting. Did I miss anything?
[00:11:17] George: What do you think, Laura?
[00:11:19] Laura: Yeah, I think it went great.
[00:11:22] Carole: Great. It's complicated. You had school and then you had the after-school and then you have the CV and you have Harding. I really appreciate Laura that you explained it all to me because you know, there's so many things out there that not everybody knows about, but you know about. I want to thank you for sharing and explaining it to me and to my audience.
[00:11:42] So, thanks. Thanks again. I can say that our interview is over. Now you can relax. You did a great job, Laura. Thank you. You're a natural.
[00:11:52] Laura: I want to point to say, thank you daddy for doing a podcast for Carole and thank you daddy for making me a part of this.
[00:12:01] George: You're welcome.
[00:12:01] Carole: It's a team effort, right guys?
[00:12:02] Laura: Yes.
[00:12:03] Carole: How do you feel about it?
[00:12:06] George: I feel good. Laura? You feel good?
[00:12:08] Laura: Yes, I am, daddy.
[00:12:10] George: Yeah, I know. If Laura feels good, then I'm good.
[00:12:12] Carole: You were wonderful guests. Thank you both so much.
[00:12:14] George: Thanks, Carole. We'll talk to you soon. Bye.
[00:12:19] Laura: Bye.
[00:12:24] Carole: Laura mentioned that her favorite book is The Shape of the Eye, the memoir written by her father, which tells the story of Laura when she was young. And it won the 2012 Oregon Book Award in creative nonfiction. Links to that book and other places and organizations that Laura mentioned can be found in the show notes.
[00:12:47] Join me in two weeks for chapter two of this series, where you will hear George discuss his memoir, The Shape of the Eye, which is a fascinating look into the unexpected and unfamiliar world he found himself in when Laura was born. He poetically shares his thoughts, his story, which he kept reminding me was only his story and no one else's. Everyone, whether with a disability or not has their unique story and how important it is for us to catch ourselves when we label and think in stereotypes, instead of searching for that unique human being in front of us.
[00:13:25] George: I knew almost nothing about Down syndrome when Laura came along. I think that it didn't even occur to me to be like, oh, she'll be like this. Certainly ideas about the importance of intellect, I would've sworn up and down, it's intellectual achievement, what level of education you get to, college, whatever, it doesn't matter. And I believe that. But, still to have a child where you have to reconfigure those expectations, it's like, okay, well maybe I'm not as pure in my expectations as I thought.
[00:14:00] Carole: Chapter three or the third episode, we will hear George speak about his other book called Fables and Futures: Biotechnology, Disability, and the Stories We Tell Ourselves. It was named the Best Science Book of 2019 by NPR Science Friday, and was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award. George's website describes how Fables and Futures shows how each new application of biotechnology is accompanied by a persuasive story, one that minimizes downsides and promises enormous benefits. You don't want to miss these conversations with George. Trust me.
[00:14:41] Thank you so much for listening to Wisdom Shared. If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to check out all the other episodes. Go to caroleblueweiss.com or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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