JULIA TORONCZAK: Sometimes when I was younger I wondered, you know,
‘What if Michael didn’t have Down Syndrome?
JULIA TORONCZAK: I realised it’s not important to think that way you know, it’s more important to focus on what
we have now and make the best of what we have.
JULIA TORONCZAK: I think twins are little telepathic in their own sense. You know, Michael doesn’t speak to me
in words but I feel like we communicate through our own little language.
JULIA TORONCZAK: Open. Thank you.
JULIA TORONCZAK: So about 40-60% of children that are born to Down Syndrome end up having heart
disorder. So when Michael was about four to five months old, he ended up having an 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, we 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? Okay, that’s okay too.
JULIA TORONCZAK: I never really questioned why Michael is different. I just simply understood.
You know, he didn’t talk like other kids, we didn’t get to go play video games like other kids did growing up.
JULIA TORONCZAK: We would still play out in the yard all the time and go swimming together. So it was still
really fun. It was a bit different but it was a lot more genuine and, you know, even though he is nonverbal,
he still expresses love better than anyone else that I know.
JULIA TORONCZAK: Who is my handsome little guy? Look at you. You are so handsome. Who is that?
Good job. Are you ready to take on the day now, yeah? Good job.
JULIA TORONCZAK: Down 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, difficult time eating and some other autoimmune diseases.
JULIA TORONCZAK: We are going to go to the beach. Do you like the beach?
MICHAEL TORONCZAK: Yeah. JULIA TORONCZAK: Yeah? That’s what I thought.
JULIA TORONCZAK: Hey, that was us. See how small we were. This one is my favourite.
You were so small. This was our favourite toy.
JULIA TORONCZAK: He doesn’t have very strong motor skills. So he doesn’t really communicate with his hands.
I kind of look at his facial reactions the most and he also understands if you are happy or you are sad. He is 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.
JULIA TORONCZAK: Something I love about Down Syndrome is that these individuals have so much love
and are so genuine. You know, Michael doesn’t care if you have tattoos, doesn’t care what race you are, doesn’t
care if you are a boy or girl, if you are gay, like, he doesn’t care. You know, if someone approaches him in a nice,
loving way, he will reciprocate that back.
JULIA TORONCZAK: He likes really calm, quiet environments. You can really notice that when you see
him around little kids and they are screaming and crying, you know, he has a lot of sensory overload at that point.
You know, if someone is yelling next to him, he thinks that it’s directed towards him and he takes it very
personally. 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.
JULIA TORONCZAK: So I am a General Biology major at UC San Diego. I’m finishing up this year.
I have just been so drawn to medicine and especially through Michael you know, he has had a lot of health
issues throughout the past. He has 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 for like the first 15 minutes we were together. And then we would take him to the ocean
and he is so mesmerised by the waves. And I think it’s just very common for him because it’s a very repetitive
motion, there is a lot of white noise, it’s very beautiful out there.
JULIA TORONCZAK: 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 Syndrome, it’s about finding ways to help people
with Down Syndrome live more fulfilled independent lives. And something I have grown to realise is,
you know, I have asked myself growing up is, ‘Why do we need the Down Syndrome population?
Why are persons with Down Syndrome so important?’ And it’s a genuine kindness that stems from them.
JULIA TORONCZAK: To this day, like I still learn so much from Michael. I don’t care how long I have been in school.
I don’t care how many universities I go to, Michael will still teach me more than anyone else ever has.