Sometimes, when I was younger I wondered, you know,
what if Michael didn't have Down's syndrome?
Lookit! Twin B, this is you. Twin A was me. Super cool.
I realise it's not important to think that way.
It's more important to focus on what we have now and make the best of
what we have.
OK, ready?
Open your mouth. Good job.
I think twins are a little telepathic in their own sense.
Michael doesn't speak to me in words but I feel like we communicate.
Our own little language.
Open. Ah. Thank you.
So, about 40 to 60% of children that are born with Down's syndrome
end up having heart disorder.
So...when Michael was about four or five months old he ended up
having open heart surgery so because of that it's
really important that we brush his teeth very well and sometimes
I do let him brush his teeth, too,
but even afterwards you still have to go back and brush it just to
make sure everything's taken care of really well.
All right, ready? Can you brush your teeth?
Show me how you brush your teeth.
Nope? OK. That's OK, too.
I never really questioned why Michael was different.
I just simply understood. You know, he...
..didn't talk like other kids,
we didn't get to go play video games like some other kids did growing up.
Yeah. We've got to rinse your eyes.
Come here. Come here. HE LAUGHS
We would still play out in the yard all the time and go swimming
together, so it's still really fun.
It was a bit different but it was a lot more genuine.
Even though he's non-verbal, he still expresses love
better than anyone else I know.
Who's my handsome little guy?
Look at you, you're so handsome.
Who is that? Good job. Are you ready to take on the day now? Yeah?
Good job. Mwah!
Down's syndrome is when you have an extra copy of the 21st chromosome.
So, for some people, it can lead to heart defects or hypertonia
which means you have little muscle tone.
That can lead to delayed walking, a difficult time eating,
and some other autoimmune diseases.
We're going to go to the beach.
Do you like the beach? Uh-huh. Yeah. That's what I thought.
There you go, that's us. See how small we were.
This one's my favourite. You were so small!
This was our favourite toy.
Hi. Mwah!
He doesn't have very strong fine motor skills,
so he doesn't really communicate with hands.
I kind of look at his facial reactions the most.
He also understands if you're happy or you're sad.
He's also really good at reading your expressions and he can
really sense emotions really well,
which I think is really important for him.
So, things are a little bit different, you know,
but we would always find a way to make it work.
Good job. Really proud of you.
Something I love about Down's syndrome is that these individuals
have so much love and are so genuine.
You know, Michael doesn't care if you have tattoos,
he doesn't care what race you are, he doesn't care if you're a
boy or a girl, if you're gay, like, he does not care.
You know, if someone approaches him in a nice loving way,
he will reciprocate that back.
So exciting.
Come on.
He likes really calm, quiet environments.
You can really notice that when you see him around little kids
and they're screaming and crying.
You know, he has a lot of sensory overload at that point.
You know, if someone's yelling next to him,
he thinks that it's directed towards him and he takes it very personally.
So I was a terrible child and I cried all the time and I was really
needy and I think Michael helped make me a lot more independent.
So I'm a general biology major at UC San Diego,
I'm finishing up this year.
I've just been so drawn to medicine and especially through Michael,
you know, he's had a lot of health issues throughout the past,
he's had a few surgeries.
When I first started going to school,
he had a really hard time adjusting to that.
You know, he would come and visit with my mom every weekend and he
wouldn't talk to me or look at me at all the first, like,
15 minutes we were together.
And then we'd take into the ocean and he's so mesmerised by the waves.
And I think it's just very calming for him because it's a very
repetitive motion. There's a lot of white noise.
It's very beautiful out there.
You know, if there was one thing I could change about Michael
it would be to find a better way to communicate with him.
And it's not about curing Down's syndrome, it's about finding ways to
help people with Down's syndrome live more fulfilled independent lives.
And something I've grown to realise is...
You know, I've asked myself growing up,
why do we need the Down's syndrome population?
Why are persons with Down's syndrome so important?
And...it's a genuine kindness that stems from them.
To this day, like, I still learn so much from Michael.
I don't care how long I'm in school for,
I don't care how many universities I go to -
Michael will still teach me more than anyone else ever has.