In Georgia, people with Down syndrome cannot find work, NGO activists assert

As stated on March 21 – the Day of Down syndrome patients – by NGO activists at a special action, in Georgia, for people with Down syndrome it is almost impossible to find a job; they cannot receive disability pensions; and education teachers often refuse to work with these children.

The World Day of Down syndrome patients was marked in Georgia on March 21 for the second year in a row. NGO activists held public actions in Tbilisi at subway stations and near several educational institutions – they distributed information leaflets among passersby, telling about the syndrome and how patients live, as Liya Tabatadze, an activist of the BGO named "Our Children", told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to her story, the protesters explained passersby that today children with Down syndrome "go to regular kindergartens and schools; they are involved in the creative and sporting activities."

Nino Tsintsadze, the head of the NGO "Our Children", has presented in the Fund "Open Society – Georgia" two textbooks in the Georgian language dedicated to development of children with Down syndrome – the books by American authors Patricia Winders "General Motor Skills" in children with Down syndrome, and Patricia Allwane " How to teach a child with Down syndrome to read books".

"I am delighted that at last these two books have been translated into Georgian. They are adapted to the Georgian reality," said Tsintsadze.