Michael Regos

Up Down Syndrome!

An extra chromosome makes you better than average, not worse.

I'm trying to live like a human being, not a person with Down Syndrome.

You may be interested in my school results, or my writing. There is also an account of my early adventures in communication in an extract from a book by Rosemary Crossley.

School

In Victoria the final university entrance score is decided in years eleven and twelve, based on subjects studied for the Victorian Certificate of Education. I took the subjects in three years, rather than two, but I took the same subjects as anybody else and did the same exams (with extended times to allow for my muscle tone problems). The final 'percentile' column is a rating of where I stood in that subject across the state; 50 means that I was exactly in the middle and that 50% of students taking that course did less well than I did, 88 that I did rather better and that 88% of students scored below me. 'S' means 'Satisfactory', and is the only pass given for ungraded subjects.

1995-6 Victorian Certificate of Education

Board of Studies Statement of Results

STUDY	Year	Result	Grades	Percentile
Business Management	1994	S
English	1994	S
General Mathematics	1994	S
Psychology	1995	S
English 2	1995	S	C, C+, D+	50
Further Mathematics	1995	S	D+, A, A	72
Business Management	1996	S	C+, C+, C	56
Health Education	1996	S	A+, A+, B+	88

I found the workload harder than I'd expected, but I like learning things, I did lots of academic work, mum was very persevering, and I made it in the end. Most of the teachers were OK, though some of them didn't like having someone in their class who couldn't talk and thought I must be stupid. It does make things hard when a teacher doesn't think I'm capable of work at that level, but my mum and my teaching aides knew I could do it and helped pull me through.

In 1999 I received a Tattersall's Award for Achievement.

Dr. Down was wrong!

This year - 2000 - I'm continuing a Business Studies course at a TAFE (Technical and Further Education) college. And after that I hope to go to University, and after that into a job.

If you want to write to me, click here. Please put 'Michael Regos' in the Subject field so I can be sure of getting your letter.

This page was prepared with the help of DEAL Communication Centre, which helped me with my communication problems.

I'll be adding pieces to this page from time to time; last revision 31 March 2000.