AttitudeLive - Kelly's Story

Kelly Fitzgerald is one of only two people in New Zealand with Down syndrome that have their full drivers license. Her family had high expectations of her and refused to listen to experts.

AttitudeLive

(Kelly) The first goal that was
driver's license.

The second was going over
to America, to Disneyland.

(Dan) And of course
going flatting as well?

And flatting, yeah.

When she was young, Kelly Fitzgerald
made a list of goals,

having a full license and driving a car
were top of the list.

"Come on!"

And the other one was
to get a decent job that I really like.

Like a Girl Friday job in an office.

I'm still looking, but it's hard
to find sometimes.

(Dan) And the last goal?

I want to get a boyfriend
and try to keep myself happy.

(Dan) Getting her driver's license
and owning a car,

has been 31-year old Kelly Fitzgerald's
goal ever since she can remember.

According to our information, she's one
of only two people in New Zealand

with Down syndrome to
have reached this milestone.

Like most things in her life,
it was Kelly's older siblings

that got her motivated.

(Kelly) My brothers and sister had their
driver's license, I was a bit jealous.

So when I was a teenager, I decided
to go for my driver's license.

- (Dan) Who taught you to drive?
- My step-uncle Fred.

- (Dan) Yeah? And how hard was it?
- I was a bit tense

- (Dan) Did you have to study hard?
- Yes

(Dan) So how did you do that?
Did you have the Road Code?

The Road Code the scratchies,
and then...yeah.

The written was so cool,
like, I aced that.

(man) Okay Kelly, what do
you want us to do today?

(Dan) Kelly lives in a flat
just five minutes from her mom.

She's the youngest of five kids
and luckily her three older brothers

also live nearby.

If there's anything goes wrong with the car
I always hop on the phone and like,

"Could you come help me?"

I think that's all the lumps are out.

(Dan) When Kelly was born,
parents Edna and Bill didn't know

what to expect. They came from
large extended families,

ran a busy household,
and Kelly just had to fit in.

(Edna Fitzgerald) Well, when we brought
her home, of course, things were a bit

fragile and wondering what,
how you're going to manage.

(Dan) Their GP advised them

to keep pushing her
and just get on with it.

Thirty-odd years ago,
that approach to parenting

was considered a little unconventional.

- You just iced it this morning eh?
- Yeah.

He just said just keep extending her
and that's what we did.

We never made any exceptions for her.
She just had toe the line

and do what everybody else did.

I'll have a big piece Kelly.

(Dan) Kelly understands her disability
and knows how she wants others

to treat her.

I was born with Down syndrome,
that's an extra chromosome

inside my body.

There's nothing wrong with me,
but it's just being a normal kid and adult.

How's the pool been going Kelly?
The 8-ball?

- The 8-ball? Yeah, quite good.
- Yeah?

I have my bad nights and my good nights.

(Dan) One of Kelly's
favorite activities is 8-ball.

She plays for a team
at the local coffee club.

Your shot Kelly

(Edna) So she learned really
when she was about five,

and then got better,
and she loves it.

What's next?

(Edna) We never made
any excuses for her

We never said, "Oh look our daughter's
got Down syndrome," but she

wants to join us. We just arrived
and thought, if she could do it,

we just encouraged her.

Well, Kelly has just cleaned me up.
Another example of her "can-do" attitude

and the way she will tackle
anything that life throws at her.

- Congrats Kelly! Best two out of three?
- Yeah.

Cool! Let's do it.

She just expects people to include her
as an equal, and I think a lot of the time

people with disabilities don't have
the confidence to do that.

Kelly's parents had a very "matter-of-fact"
and "no-nonsense" approach to parenting.

And her mom Edna's now written a book
about Kelly's life, called

Born to Succeed.

When mom first had mentioned
that she was going to write a book

about me and that, I was a bit...
wasn't sure at first,

but now when mom explained it
kind of a bit to me

and then I said,
I was like "Yeah, go for it."

(Dan) At the launch of Edna's book
Kelly made a speech.

I was born with Down syndrome
over 30 years ago.

My life has been good.

I have never thought of myself
as having a major disability.

And I write the book to inspire
other parents to do

as we have done, and if they can take
one idea out of that book,

to help their child, I think
that's all I really wanted.

When I was little, it was my brothers
and sister that taught me

a lot of stuff. They treated me
like a normal kid

and that's how I thought of myself.

When you first have a
Down syndrome baby,

you don't know what the outcome
is going to be. We knew nothing

about it.

So we just carried on as though
she was normal.

So all in all, life is good.

Good friends, hobbies, work
and plenty to keep me busy.

(Dan) How does that make you feel
when you see her out driving

and you came around her flat
that she's got by herself?

Oh, pretty proud of it. But then
I'm proud of all of kids,

and I don't really see her
as any different.

It's not hard to give things a go.

Just arrive and say "Hi, I am here.
And I want to just join in."

Thank you for everything.

(audience clapping)

AttitudeLive