For three semesters, Tracy Rybacki attended the Career Development Program at GiGi’s Playhouse NYC in Harlem, designed to prepare adults with Down syndrome for professional careers. Since then, she has written multiple pieces for Oblivioni. Recently, she interviewed her former teacher, Megan Moore, about their shared experiences in the Down syndrome community. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Tracy: You ready?
Megan: Born ready.
Tracy: Have you teached people with Down syndrome?
Megan: Oh, before?
Tracy: Yeah.
Megan: Before I started working at GiGi’s Playhouse NYC, I had not taught anybody in the Down syndrome community. I had studied special education and got my master’s degree in special education, but I had never had any students with Down syndrome in my previous career. So, starting at GiGi’s Playhouse NYC was really my first experience. After meeting you for the first time and meeting all the students for the first time, I really felt like it was kind of meant for me to be there.
The Power of Having a Voice
Tracy: Do your think people with Down syndrome have advantages?
Megan: Yeah, I do, Tracy, because what I have learned from working in the GiGi’s Playhouse NYC community, I truly think that the Down syndrome community is just very, very loving and kind, and lead with open hearts. I think that is an advantage. I also think like you specifically and a lot of the students that I work with are very eager and happy to be there. And it seems to me there’s some pride that comes out of really learning things and grasping it and that, to me, I think is very, very special.
Tracy: Do you think we have a voice within ourselves?
Megan: Yes. 100% yes. I think that you have shown that to me, and the community in general has shown to me, how important it is to have a voice, and to find strength in that voice. From things that you have said, your self-advocacy skills are the reason that you are as successful and as wonderful and special and smart as you are, and it’s because of your voice. So yes, I believe that you specifically, and generally the voices that I have seen within the other students I’ve taught, are so strong and so beautiful and so pure and just so so smart and remarkable.
Can People with Down Syndrome Change the World?
Tracy: Okay. Do you believe a person with Down syndrome can be president and can change the world?
Megan: I believe an individual with Down syndrome can 100% change the world. What is the name of the woman who was elected to the government in Spain? [Note: in September 2023, Mar Galcerán became the first person with Down syndrome to serve as a member of a Spanish regional parliament. In 2013, Ángela Bachiller was sworn in as a city councillor in Valladolid, Spain, becoming the country’s first city councillor with Down syndrome. And in 2020, Fintan Bray became the first individual with Down syndrome to be elected to a political position in Ireland.]
Tracy: Do you think someone with Down syndrome can process what the job takes?
Megan: Everybody is so different, and the same job is not for everybody. Some people are more capable of certain jobs than others, Down syndrome or not. It just depends on the person. I think that different people have different passions and different depths and use their voices differently and are capable of different things. Like me, personally, I don’t think I would be a good president.
If you want to get involved, you start by using your voice in the community, and then within New York City, and then within the state, because becoming president or having some kind of role in the government does not kind of happen overnight, right? I think if you personally want to use your voice for anything, you’re capable of doing anything you want to do, Tracy.
Tracy: Thank you. Do you believe that people with Down syndrome can get jobs and have a career?
Megan: Yes. One of my core values and core beliefs is that I believe that the world itself does not give the Down syndrome community the chances that you deserve to have. Like I said before, it’s not like not every job is meant for every single person. But if somebody wants to work as a fashion designer, as a writer, we are 100% capable of learning those skills to do a job in that related field.
Tracy: Okay. Do you think people with disabilities and Down syndrome have a right to get what they want in life?
Megan: Yes. Down syndrome or not, you are a human being. Everybody is just a human being who deserves to get what they want in life, right? Everybody deserves to work toward their dreams, to have loving friends and loving relationships and a roof over their head. But yes, I believe that at the end of the day, human beings with Down syndrome or not have every single right to work toward whatever they want to have. You deserve it.
Overcoming Discrimination and Standing Strong
Tracy: Do people with Down syndrome have a right to be discriminated against and taken advantage of?
Megan: No. Unfortunately, there is some unfairness toward individuals with disabilities and individuals with Down syndrome, and that really, really makes me upset, because I firsthand know how incredible our community is. I can use my voice, you can use your voice, to teach core values to every single human being just to be kind.
Tracy: What if people would take advantage?
Megan: I’m sure it happens, right? People have tried to take advantage of me in my past, and I think that my advice for you or for anybody in that situation is to try to stand firm. And if people are not listening to you and what you’re saying, you try to find someone that you love and that you trust to help you in that situation. And that’s why it’s important to kind of have a community and family members and people that you know you can trust who love you to help you in situations like that.
But going back to your previous question, that’s why it is so important for us to find our voices and find our confidence to be able to say, “I don’t like that. I don’t want to do that. That’s not fair.”
Finding Friendship, Representation and Role Models
Tracy: What makes me your favorite? My vocabulary? My writing, my characteristics, or my personality?
Megan [laughing]: Tracy, this is how I’m rephrasing this. The reasons that I love you and I respect you and I think so highly of you — Can I answer it that way? You are so special, Tracy, truly, for who you are. You are so loving, you’re so passionate, you are just a living advocate for the Down syndrome community and for yourself. You are so caring and kind, but you are also, you know, so witty. Your vocabulary is top, top, top of the line. Academically, you’re incredibly smart, but you are also just very socially quick and witty and hilarious. Just watching you smile and laugh and hearing your witty comments just brings me joy. There are many, many reasons why I love you, but there are many reasons why teachers are not allowed to have favorites.
Tracy: I just thought I’d ask! What about having a famous actor as a holistic-spirited friend in my life? Is it OK to have a famous celebrity as a friend who likes me for who I am?
Megan: Tracy, I think that having a figure in your life to look up to is really, really special. I think it’s great that you have somebody—your, um, holistic-spirited friend that you can look up to, and that you think so highly of. It is wonderful to have people in your life who like you for who you are. And as long as those friendships are strong, safe friendships, then that is, I think, incredible in my mind.
Tracy, how did you come up with these questions?
Tracy: I just made them up. I know everything about Down syndrome, so….
Oblivioni Magazine: Megan, do you have a question for Tracy?
Megan: Tracy, tell me why you think it’s important for you to have a voice.
Tracy: To be heard. To be an individual, in this world, just like everybody else.
^^^
Tracy Rybacki is a writer with Down syndrome who writes periodically for Oblivioni Magazine. Read more of her work here.
Photographs: In each photo, Megan Moore (r), Tracy Rybacki (l). Photos courtesy of Megan Moore.
Image Design: Kalyee Srithnam