Frontline Magazine

In Ireland, with the introduction of the Assisted Decision Making Capacity Act (ADMCA) 2015, there is a move to supported decision making to restore autonomy and respect the human dignity of each person. The guiding principle is that a person should be supported to make decisions for themselves (Donnelly 2016). Under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), there has been a move away from the use of the ICD-10 classification of disability to the language of “those who require intensive support”, which focuses more on supports needed rather than the diagnosis of intellectual disability (Stefansdottir et al 2018).

The struggle to secure a job My name is Mei Lin Yap, I’m 29 years old and I am a young woman and I think of myself more “Like” than “Unlike” everyone else. I am a citizen just like any other! Oh, and by the way I have Down Syndrome. I have been in the workforce for 11 and a half years but many people with disabilities are not as “lucky” as me.

This subject is not an easy one, and is still a taboo topic for many parents, but I believe that our DS sons and daughters will show us the way, as they are naturally loving and caring, and enter relationships easily without any of the hypocrisy usually associated with the subject.