Pablo Pineda, The First University Graduate With Down Syndrome

There are no different degrees of Down syndrome but differences between human beings. With this premise we relate the story of Pablo Pineda, the first university graduate with this syndrome.

Read on to discover a surprising tale of self-improvement. 

Pablo Pineda’s story

In 1974 Pablo Pineda Ferrer came to the world. He was not going to be just another person, but he would rise as the first university graduate with Down syndrome.

Pablo Pineda’s vision is in line with one of the most humane psychological currents that exist. We can get closer to his experience through the movie Me, too,  in which he makes a magnificent interpretation of himself.

Overcome limitations

Anyway, we can understand its principles even more if we remember the well-known movie “A wonderful mind . ” In this feature film we see how John Nash, beset by schizophrenia.

Nash has to learn to integrate the limitations it causes him so that they distort his life as little as possible. To do this, he undertakes a learning process even more fascinating than that of mathematics.

An adaptation that we all do, if only to make our way of being and our inclinations fit with our environment and what we expect from the future. Or are we not all trying to overcome our limitations?

Pity for a person with Down syndrome?

The point is, we’ve all heard the comment of “What a shame!” O It is pity!” in reference to a person with Down syndrome . However, I have never understood and no one has managed to explain to me what the pity is.

In our own way and in our way we ask others to respect the way we have chosen to try to be happy. We are convinced that no one has more information and resources to make a decision than ourselves when it affects us.

People with chromosomal abnormalities also have this ability, this belief, and this right.

Their claims

It was in this way that Pablo Pineda became the first graduate with Down syndrome. A feat that only a few years ago would have been called impossible and today it is already part of reality.

Until now, the pointing finger that pointed to people with chromosomal alterations used as its main argument the fact that they had inferior intelligence. A kind of subintelligence.

They spoke of an intellectual scourge that made it impossible for these people to progress in academia. Or they could access positions of responsibility.

However, once again and despite the obstacles, reality insists on keeping the natural order of things. In addition, as we have seen, it does not always coincide with what we can come to think.

What we owe to Pablo

Today we owe it to Pablo Pineda that, in the cleanest way possible, with his own example, he has taken a giant step forward. It has been an advance for society to begin to question certain patterns regarding what it considers disease, capacity and individual differences.

We owe it to his environment that he has supported him and that he has helped him to put his limits as far as possible, assuming that they did not know where they were. We can find in his own words what he found when he entered the university world:

“ One of the main keys for us to have a future is the University. But he is still very reticent on these issues. Until 20 years ago, no Down syndrome had ever been to a university. Until that October 22, 1995 in which I entered. They say it was a milestone.

And of course it was, finally there was Down syndrome in such an elite and potentate institution. We have to show these institutions that we are capable of studying a career as just another person . “

At the University they come across customs that are less suited to their abilities. In his words, ” the classes are very theoretical, so heavy, so brainy … Here there is a lack of practice . “

Well, for those who asked for that demonstration, they already have it. Pablo does not ask that things be made easier for him but that there be no barriers. That they do not have to overcome more obstacles than those encountered by anyone else when accessing Higher Education.

There is still a lot of ignorance

There is great ignorance about these issues; This is the main reason why we have directly confronted them by banning. After all, it is the most comfortable position from our point of view. This minimizes our risks, despite the fact that, in this sense, the true protagonist must be the person to whom these fields belong.

Pablo also demands that the insertion procedures that exist be perfected and applied in a real way. In such a way that they project the worker as someone who can contribute a lot to a company. And not as a simple worker who has the advantage of being cheaper.

Let the extraordinary be the everyday

The maturity of a society can be evaluated by the way in which it treats each of the people that make it up. In this sense, society, beyond being an abstract concept, we are all.

Therefore, it is in our power to continue taking steps forward so that all people have the opportunity to develop their capacities. No absurd preconceptions, misunderstood concepts, or solid, artificial barriers.

Let’s understand Pablo’s case as a wake-up call. So that the extraordinary soon becomes something everyday.

We are going to listen and empower others. We are going to set standards with the people who are directly affected in mind, not our comfort. And we are going to do ourselves a favor to stop frustrating lives, dreams and careers without any rights.

Congratulations on going this way, Pablo !!