Count Us in: Growing Up with Down Syndrome

These generally cheerful dialogues between 19-year-old Kingsley and 22-year-old Levitz and family members provide an excellent illustration of what it's like to have Down syndrome. Their mothers recount how it felt to learn their babies had the disability. Kingsley and Levitz reveal themselves to be both functional and creative (Levitz suggests changing the condition's name to ``Up syndrome''). Most moving here are the portrayals of strong family relationships, especially as revealed in the young men's dialogues with their grandfathers. Levitz discusses his bar mitzvah and becoming an adult, and both young men honestly describe their frustrations, particularly their difficulty in understanding what is appropriate behavior with women. Although additional background material might have made this a more valuable resource (particularly an indication of how typical the authors are vis a vis other people with Down syndrome), the exchanges between Kingsley and Levitz have great weight on their own, as when Kingsley announces that if he could speak to the obstetrician who told his parents he should be institutionalized, he would say, ``People with disabilities can learn! '' Author tour. (Jan.)