Pablo Pineda had a mother who wouldn’t take no for an answer.
When he was a child, she went to the school, spoke to the principal, and managed to get him to study alongside his siblings, in the same classrooms. To get into secondary school, the teachers had to vote on whether to accept him. Pablo won that vote, although the hard part came afterward: sitting in class in front of those who had said no. He ended up winning them all over.
Pablo became the first European with Down syndrome to earn a university degree. He graduated with a degree in Special Education Teaching from the University of Málaga and won the Silver Shell for Best Actor in San Sebastián for the film “Yo También”. His secret to studying is simple: he reads aloud and discusses each subject with himself until he understands it.
Unfortunately, his mother passed away in 2022; he had lived with her until then. He currently lives alone in Málaga with his dog, Pau. Pineda says this change in his life has allowed him to solidify and put into practice all the independence his parents had prepared him for since he was a child.
