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Proud father celebrates daughter with Down syndrome’s college graduation

By Faith Tap
May 25th, 2020

All parents are proud when their children graduate from college – it’s a huge academic achievement and not everyone can or does get through it.

But Jay Handlin had extra reason to celebrate. His daughter Rachel has Down syndrome and is one of the very few people with the genetic anomaly to have completed a college degree.

When the proud father took to Twitter in mid-May to shout her accomplishment from the rooftops, the family received congrats from hundreds of thousands of people.

While children with Down syndrome in the U.S. must be provided with free and appropriate education, there is no guarantee of that beyond high school. And because the condition is often accompanied by varying levels of intellectual disability, many Down syndrome students don’t meet college entrance requirements.

All along, Rachel and her family dealt with the “naysayers,” but that didn’t stop them:

Of course, there are colleges and universities that invite Down syndrome students to participate in classes or enrichment programs, but earning a degree is a completely different matter.

Accommodations can be made to make the material more accessible, but the rigorous degree requirements are the same for everyone who earns a standard Bachelor’s degree.

This year, Rachel Handlin became one of the very few people with Down syndrome to complete those requirements when she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography & Media from California Institute of the Arts.

While the exact numbers are unclear, Mr. Handlin told PEOPLE that he believes “out of all the people with Down syndrome in the world, those who’ve earned a regular college degree are literally about one in a million.” The estimate was echoed by the Pediatric Therapy Network.

Of course, more Down syndrome people are capable of this achievement, they just don’t have the opportunity or resources to pursue it.

In fact, you might be surprised to know that while Down syndrome is so common, according to the Global Down Syndrome Foundation, it’s one of the least-funded conditions for study by the National Institute of Health.

“They’re the ones whose families refused to let their children’s futures be denied, who fought unfair odds, social biases, low expectations and systems stacked against them, and somehow managed to win,” Handlin said of those who beat the odds.

The Handlin family exposed Rachel “to great art” when she was just a toddler.

“The first time we took her to MusĂ©e d’Orsay, Laura was carrying Rachel when we entered the Van Gogh gallery and it was like an electric charge went through Rachel’s body,” he told PEOPLE. “She had an instant, strong, positive physical reaction to the art.”

In 9th grade, she was gifted a Nikon Coolpix point-and-shoot digital camera for her birthday – and that’s when she really began to take an interest in photography, taking classes throughout high school to build her portfolio.

That portfolio got her into CalArts, where she became the first student with Down syndrome to enroll at the university.

“Everyone there is valued for their uniqueness. It was ideal for Rachel to be someplace where the only ‘normal’ is difference,” Handlin said of the school.

Of course, her education was not without challenges – and Rachel lived with her mother off-campus so she wouldn’t have to deal with the extra strain of learning to live independently while completing her studies.

But nothing can diminish her accomplishment, and the response was one of overwhelming support.

Handlin isn’t the only Down syndrome graduate with proud parents this year.

AnnaRose Rubright became the first person with Down syndrome to receive a Bachelor’s degree from Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey. She majored in Radio, Television, and Film.

It’s about time we start looking at those with disabilities in a whole new way.

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Source: Bored Panda, National Down Syndrome Society, Think College, @jayhandlin via Twitter, PEOPLE

About the Author
Faith Tap
Faith Tap (FaithTap.com LLC) was launched in 2013 and has the strong belief that inspiring stories have a great impact on the lives of their readers. Our faithful followers agree and have responded by our website showing rapid growth in popularity as our stories have been shared around the world reaching over 30 million users monthly. We strive to be an oasis from negative and controversial news and bring hope and smiles to every person we touch.
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