Greater Expectations: Living with Down Syndrome in the 21st Century

Jan Gothard is an associate professor at Murdoch University and a former editor of the Oral History Association of Australia Journal. She is the author of Blue China: Single Female Migration to Colonial Australia, which won the Western Australia Premier's Prize for History, and the general editor of the Historical Encyclopedia of Western Australia. She is also the recipient of the Australian government's Centenary Medal for services to literature and to society. Professor Fiona Stanley, AC, is a professor in the School of Pediatrics and Child Health at the University of Western Australia and the chair of the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth. She is also the founding director of the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research and the UNICEF Australia ambassador for early childhood development. She has more than 300 published papers in scientific journals.

Based on more than 60 personal interviews and supported by scholarly research, this book shows the varied attitudes and approaches that make up the rich experience of living with disability in a changing society. Covering Down syndrome from conception to old age, this historical analysis touches upon a variety of themes, including education, friendship, health, recreation, sexuality, employment, and independence. This moving, partly autobiographical account is a must read for all parents, teachers, health professionals, and policy makers who make choices that affect people with disabilities.