Angela Bettoni is a student, writer, activist, performer and TV presenter. She also happens to have Down Syndrome.

This is how the 21-year-old introduces herself, as she makes it her mission to debunk myths about the condition.

“I’m not an ‘angel’, an ‘eternal child’ or ‘God’s child that just dropped down to Earth’. These are some of the endearing terms used to refer to people with Down Syndrome.

"Others talk down to me, addressing me like they would a baby,” she told Times of Malta in between a lecture at Mcast and a performance rehearsal in Valletta.

Bettoni says there are a lot of myths surrounding Down Syndrome, so she constantly finds herself challenging the “rules” about what a person with a disability should and should not do.

“I’m not doing this just because I have Down Syndrome. I just happen to have Down Syndrome. I am a person, not a disability.

"When introducing myself, I don’t say ‘hi, I have Down Syndrome’. I always start off with ‘hi, I’m Angela’… I want you to see me as a person. Yes, I do have an intellectual disability, but I also laugh and love just like you.”

Angela constantly finds herself challenging the “rules” about what a person with disability should and should not do.

Born in England to a Sri Lankan mum and Italian dad, Bettoni has been living in Malta for almost a decade. She admits she feels most at home in Malta.

Here, she trained in musical theatre at the School of Performing Arts and has gone on to complete an Advanced Diploma in Performing Arts at Mcast. She is now reading for a BA in Creative Arts.

She set about advocating for more inclusion in performing arts in Malta when in 2019 she returned from a volunteering stint with a theatre company in London.

“There I saw, for the first time, mixed ability on stage: people with or without disability performing alongside each other. I wanted to do something like that in Malta, so I approached Opening Doors and the voluntary organisation luckily shared my same vision.”

Angela at Mcast. Photo: Karl Andrew Micallef

Bettoni’s typical day starts off with focusing on her studies at Mcast, from where she rushes, by bus, to Valletta for rehearsals.

Over the past months, her schedule also included filming sessions for a docu-series aimed at children who aspire to work in the film and TV industry. She co-hosted the programme, called Action, with Brandon Terribile.

In between, she also pens novels and online articles, and whenever she can, raises awareness about inclusivity.

Navigating an ableist society means that Bettoni not only has to work harder to gain access to sectors she is interested in, such as the arts, but she is also challenged about her own work.

People with Down Syndrome don’t need protection, but for people to see beyond our disability- Angela Bettoni

“It’s like for the new book that I’m writing, some people might think that someone else has written it for me.”

She has come to realise that several have low expectations of people with Down Syndrome and some tend to be overprotective.

“People with Down Syndrome don’t need protection, but for people to see beyond our disability and give us a chance,” she says.

More information about Opening Doors here.

Angela always loved reading.