# I'm either a suspicious jerk or I don't understand Downs Syndrome **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 24, 2012, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-either-a-suspicious-jerk-or-i-dont-understand-downs-syndrome/638724 "2012-10-24T13:27:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-either-a-suspicious-jerk-or-i-dont-understand-downs-syndrome/638724/1 "2012-10-24T13:27:54Z")
Ann Coulter implied that the president is a ‘retard’ in a tweet. [This man wrote an article taking her to task for it.](http://specialolympicsblog.wordpress.com/2012/10/23/an-open-letter-to-ann-coulter/) The article is so articulate and well written that I find myself doubting that a man with Downs Syndrome wrote it. I think he had a ghost writer. I realize that Downs Syndrome is a condition that has a spectrum of intellectual ability, but I just can’t help thinking this article is a bit tooo polished to land anywhere on that spectrum. I want to believe, but I don’t. What do you think? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-either-a-suspicious-jerk-or-i-dont-understand-downs-syndrome/638724/2 "2012-10-24T13:36:56Z")
My best friends as a toddler were three sisters. They had a fourth sister when #3 and I were 4yo; #4 has Down’s. She also has a law degree and specializes in disability work, emancipation, etc. She attended the Spanish Long Distance University (UNED) rather than going for a presential course because she wanted to make it clear to anybody and everybody that she had not been “given” any of her grades: the teachers wouldn’t even know she had Down’s. UNED is quite old and, while not the most prestigious school in anything they teach, a perfectly fine option for any of their courses. I’ve taken a few loose credits with them myself, it’s the largest university in Spain by number of students and credits in any given year. Yes, someone with Down’s can write perfectly well. All of them? No, but more and more nowadays, when they’re actually being taught rather than relegated to a corner. Think of it this way, although it’s a simplification: let’s say Down’s lowers IQ from what that same bundle of genes would have produced without the trisomy, and let’s say it’s by 10%. That leaves someone whose no-trisomy blueprint would be at 100 at a 90; someone whose no-trisomy blueprint would be high enough for Mensa would still have above-average intelligence with the trisomy. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-either-a-suspicious-jerk-or-i-dont-understand-downs-syndrome/638724/3 "2012-10-24T13:37:29Z")
I think he has a great editor but many writers do. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-either-a-suspicious-jerk-or-i-dont-understand-downs-syndrome/638724/4 "2012-10-24T13:51:16Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > …Think of it this way, although it’s a simplification: let’s say Down’s lowers IQ from what that same bundle of genes would have produced without the trisomy, and let’s say it’s by 10%. That leaves someone whose no-trisomy blueprint would be at 100 at a 90; someone whose no-trisomy blueprint would be high enough for Mensa would still have above-average intelligence with the trisomy. Ok. This makes some sense for me. Moonlitherial, I don’t know if I would attribute that kind of writing to good editing. That letter is well written from a concept standpoint. Not something an editor make happen for a writer. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-either-a-suspicious-jerk-or-i-dont-understand-downs-syndrome/638724/5 "2012-10-24T14:03:37Z")
[Here](http://www.denverpost.com/commented/ci_10351963)is another article he wrote about the word “retard.” > [@](#): > > That is why I love being a Global Messenger. **I work for days telling my dad what I want to talk about and he tries to write it down for me. Then we do it over and over until we have something that says what I mean. We wrote this letter the same way.** > > So, what’s wrong with “retard”? I can only tell you what it means to me and people like me when we hear it. It means that the rest of you are excluding us from your group. We are something that is not like you and something that none of you would ever want to be. We are something outside the “in” group. We are someone that is not your kind. _:bolding mine:_ He has a “ghost” writer - his Dad. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-either-a-suspicious-jerk-or-i-dont-understand-downs-syndrome/638724/6 "2012-10-24T14:06:36Z")
Ah! Ok. That, I can understand. Thanks Dolores. Nava’s post made sense to me, but seemed the unlikely explanation for this article. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-either-a-suspicious-jerk-or-i-dont-understand-downs-syndrome/638724/7 "2012-10-24T14:28:00Z")
Down syndrome can also result in a mosaic trisomy meaning that not all embryonic cell lines will actually have the Trisomy. These patients tend to have less severe disease dependent on the extent of their mosaicism ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-either-a-suspicious-jerk-or-i-dont-understand-downs-syndrome/638724/8 "2012-10-24T17:42:12Z")
Yea, I came in here to mention Mosaic Down’s as well. They tend to be less affected - higher IQ - smarter - than other people with Down’s. I don’t doubt that an exceptionally intelligent Mosaic kid could write something like that. But I think this one is a clear case of Dad the Copyeditor/Ghostwriter. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-either-a-suspicious-jerk-or-i-dont-understand-downs-syndrome/638724/9 "2012-10-24T18:29:59Z")
I find it hilarious that Ann Coulter is calling someone else out for their intelligence. This is a person, I won’t say “woman” because I’m not sure, who would lose an argument to a potato ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-either-a-suspicious-jerk-or-i-dont-understand-downs-syndrome/638724/10 "2012-10-24T18:33:05Z")
I found the eloquence a little surprising too when I first read it this morning. Another thanks to **Dolores** for the explanation. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-either-a-suspicious-jerk-or-i-dont-understand-downs-syndrome/638724/11 "2012-10-24T18:57:32Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > I find it hilarious that Ann Coulter is calling someone else out for their intelligence. This is a person, I won’t say “woman” because I’m not sure, who would lose an argument to a potato Ann Coulter is a woman. There is no doubt on that. Making transphobic jokes isn’t funny, or clever, and insults innocents instead of the shitbag you’re aiming at. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-either-a-suspicious-jerk-or-i-dont-understand-downs-syndrome/638724/12 "2012-10-24T19:19:49Z")
The thing I hate the most about Anne Coulter is the need to push back on the transphobic crap every time she’s in the news. Anne Coulter is NOT A MAN! And to suggest that a) she is and b)you’re insulting her by suggesting that she’s transgender is transphobic, even if you certainly never meant to insult transgender people. It is not funny. Period. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-either-a-suspicious-jerk-or-i-dont-understand-downs-syndrome/638724/13 "2012-10-24T19:23:17Z")
I thought he was just saying she’s ugly and looks like a dude. ---
**Author:** ![janis\_and\_c0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janis_and_c0/32/21_2.png) [@janis\_and\_c0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janis_and_c0)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-either-a-suspicious-jerk-or-i-dont-understand-downs-syndrome/638724/14 "2012-10-24T19:27:55Z")
Even if he had “help” I’m glad he wrote it & I shared it on my Facebook, THe message looses nothing in the origin. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-either-a-suspicious-jerk-or-i-dont-understand-downs-syndrome/638724/15 "2012-10-24T19:29:19Z")
> [@janis\_and\_c0](#): > > Even if he had “help” I’m glad he wrote it & I shared it on my Facebook, THe message looses nothing in the origin. Except it’s a lie; he didn’t write it. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-either-a-suspicious-jerk-or-i-dont-understand-downs-syndrome/638724/16 "2012-10-24T19:34:16Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > I find it hilarious that Ann Coulter is calling someone else out for their intelligence. This is a person, I won’t say “woman” because I’m not sure, who would lose an argument to a potato I’m not sure Ann Coulter could even [count to potato.](http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-can-count-to-potato) ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-either-a-suspicious-jerk-or-i-dont-understand-downs-syndrome/638724/17 "2012-10-24T20:22:37Z")
I was suspicious, too. Still am, as a matter of fact. That doesn’t make Ann Coulter less of an attention whoring asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-either-a-suspicious-jerk-or-i-dont-understand-downs-syndrome/638724/18 "2012-10-24T20:29:35Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > I’m not sure Ann Coulter could even [count to potato.](http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-can-count-to-potato) :smack: I just read that as ‘cunt to potato’. Not sure where the potato comes in, but whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-either-a-suspicious-jerk-or-i-dont-understand-downs-syndrome/638724/19 "2012-10-24T22:22:50Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > I was suspicious, too. Still am, as a matter of fact. That doesn’t make Ann Coulter less of an attention whoring asshole. No need to be suspicious now; you can be sure. Dolores is correct that his dad [writes the pieces](http://www.denverpost.com/commented/ci_10351963) for him. He ‘dictates’, sure. But his dad is the ghost author. ---
**Author:** ![dragongirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b38774/32.png) [@dragongirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragongirl)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-either-a-suspicious-jerk-or-i-dont-understand-downs-syndrome/638724/20 "2012-10-24T22:28:43Z")
I have actually met the author of that letter. He may not have the ability to put the words on paper independently, but he is very capable of expressing himself. It’s no different than a secretary taking notes for his/her boss. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-either-a-suspicious-jerk-or-i-dont-understand-downs-syndrome/638724.md?page=2)