| 1 | 1 | | Sarah Duffen can't wait for her family 's next holiday to Malta so that she can have |
| 2 | | a go at waterskiing. Back home, she spends her spare time swimming, horse riding, |
| 3 | | practising ballet, gymnastics and trampolining. Her mornings are taken up either with |
| 4 | | baking or continuing her studies on the family's home computer. A full and active life for |
| 5 | | any normal 20-year-old, but what makes Sarah's achievements so extraordinary is that |
| 6 | | she has Down's syndrome1). |
| 2 | 7 | | Sarah's will to succeed comes across loud and clear as her mother remembers |
| 8 | | doctors saying that her little girl would only reach the mental age of five. 'They were |
| 9 | | wrong!' Sarah says proudly. |
| 3 | 10 | | What would the doctors say now? If they could sit in the Duffens' Renault 5 and |
| 11 | | watch her driving with confidence along narrow country lanes, they'd have |
| 12 | | to eat their words. She is now the first Down's syndrome driver in Britain - and probably |
| 13 | | the first in the world. 'I'm so over the moon,' she beams, 'now I can drive about on my |
| 14 | | own.' |
| 4 | 15 | | Sarah's father, Leslie, explains that it was only a matter of her getting more practice |
| 16 | | in busy traffic before she took her driving test. 'think she had to do better than average |
| 17 | | to pass because she was the first person like her to take a test and we knew the examiner |
| 18 | | would be rather strict. But I can understand the concern because if something did go |
| 19 | | wrong afterwards the examiner might be criticised.' |
| 5 | 20 | | Certainly driving schools had doubts about taking Sarah on when Leslie wrote to |
| 21 | | them more than a year ago. 'I had taught her the basics by driving around empty roads. |
| 22 | | In the end the director of one school decided to give Sarah a little test,' Leslie |
| 23 | | remembers. 'She didn't do very well because she was, understandably, terribly nervous. |
| 24 | | But it was good enough to convince him that she could learn.' |
| 6 | 25 | | It had been a huge blow when the Duffens were told that their two-week-old |
| 26 | | daughter was a Down's child. But they were determined not to let anybody write her off. |
| 27 | | So three years later, when Leslie lost his job and suddenly found himself with time on his |
| 28 | | hands, he decided to teach her to read. |
| 7 | 29 | | 'Everyone thought I was mad,' says Leslie. 'Now I wish I'd started teaching her at |
| 30 | | birth. They say you must teach talking before reading, but if we'd waited for our Sarah to |
| 31 | | talk properly, we'd never have got started.' |
| 8 | 32 | | The Duffens' main worry now is what will happen to Sarah if anything should |
| 33 | | happen to them. 'This is a major concern for all parents of handicapped children,' Leslie |
| 34 | | admits. 'We have made provision for Sarah to have a home with the Home Farm Trust. |
| 35 | | This is an organisation where handicapped people are integrated into the community: |
| 36 | | they live in a normal home in the street. They are also guaranteed a home for life - and |
| 37 | | Sarah will be financially supported.' |
| 9 | 38 | | 'I think she will be perfectly independent, anyway, within the next 10 years, so it |
| 39 | | won't be a problem,' he smiles. |
| | | |
| | | from 'Woman', August 8, 1987 |
