Casey Rochell, DJ With Down Syndrome, Turns Offensive Quote Into Positive Message

Casey Rochell, a U.K.-based DJ is using his mixing skills to turn a negative message about people with Down syndrome into a positive one.

Rochell, 23, remixed a quote from Joseph Fletcher, an ethicist, who in 1968 said, “There is no need to feel guilty about putting a Down syndrome child away. True guilt arises only from an offense against a person, and a Downs is not a person.”

Rochell’s message? “Downs is a person. A person,” the remixed version of the audio clip says.

“A lot of people might not expect me to mix records, but I’ve been doing this for a long time,” Rochell told The Huddersfield Daily Examiner. “I want this video to change how people think about learning disability.”

Around 6.5 million people in the U.S. and 1.7 million in the U.K. have a learning or intellectual disability. Having an intellectual disability doesn’t make someone any less of a person; people with intellectual and learning disabilities can go on to lead successful and productive lives.

The track was produced as part of U.K. learning disability charity Mencap’s “Here I Am” campaign, which seeks to bring visibility to learning disabilities. The campaign also features a photo series of people with learning disabilities.

You can watch Rochell remix Fletcher’s quote below.