Results: Turning Down Syndrome Into Up Syndrome

Collette Divitto, a 26-year-old woman with Down Syndrome, has been inspiring other people with developmental disabilities to follow their dreams after getting a taste of success by running her own cookie company in Boston. After years of job interviews, and being told, 'It was great to meet you, but at this time we feel this isn't a great fit,'" Colleen decided to turn one of her passions into reality. She loved baking cookies, and used to bring them into job interviews, so she decided to open her own business, called appropriately Collettey's. After a story about her on CBS went viral recently, she also appeared on NBC, Ellen, in Good Housekeeping, and several other shows. Her dream is to expand her business, and hire other people with disabilities. She says of her signature "amazing cookie," that she includes "100 percent love" as an ingredient. "It's actually chocolate chip with cinnamon. That's why it's called an amazing cookie." Do you find her story an inspiration?

When Noelia Garella was a child, a nursery school rejected her as a "monster". Now 31, she is teaching a class of her own. She is the first person with Down Syndrome to work as a preschool teacher in Argentina – and one of the few in the world. Garella's case set a precedent after the school confronted a taboo: could a person with a cognitive syndrome be in charge of a class? Garella first joined the Cordoba public education system as an assistant for reading classes in 2012. She teaches jointly with another teacher, and says that she hopes to inspire others to believe that they can be whatever they want, without limitations. She has a little boy in her class with Down Syndrome. "He is wonderful," she says. "Oh, it is lovely when someone like me is born." Do you feel there are any problems or limitations with a teacher with Down Syndrome teaching?

In June 2015, Sam Hesla was sworn in as a reserve officer in the Minneapolis Police Reserves. Hesla, 25, is one of the first reserve officers with Down Syndrome to serve in the country. Before earning his title, Hesla completed 12 weeks of training in which he mastered skills like radio communication, CPR and traffic directing. Though Minneapolis reserve officers don't carry weapons, their duties include crime prevention, monitoring events and backing up the Minneapolis police department when necessary. He says he enjoys helping other people, because "I care more about other people than I care about myself." Do you find this story inspiring?

A 2013 book called "Up Syndrome: It's all about the attitude (Redefining Down Syndrome)" by Megan Abner, is an autobiographical account of one woman's experience with the "ups and downs" of her Down Syndrome, and how she has come to redefine it as Up Syndrome. Do you think her attitude, and the attitude of the others in this survey is the reason these remarkable people will succeed in life?