Down's Syndrome children used to sit on the sidelines of society. Now many are highly educated and ready to take jobs that would previously have been beyond them. Sharon Griffiths speaks to Julia Smith, who would love to be given the chance to work full time.

JULIA Smith is a lively 21-year-old and a bit of a trailblazer. But after achieving great things, now she's in danger of getting stuck. Julia, from Kirk Merrington near Spennymoor, has a fistful of GCSEs, speaks some French, is learning Spanish, plays the piano and has qualifications in business administration and computers.

Yet 18 months after leaving college, she can't get a job.

Julia has Down's Syndrome.

Ah.

So you think that tells you what Julia's like? Well, perhaps you'd better think again.

All her life Julia has been a hard worker and a high achiever. She was one of the first children with Down's Syndrome in the North-East to go through mainstream school. She fitted in well at St Leonard's in Durham, where - with hard work and good teachers - she gained nine GCSEs, grades C to F, and an Intermediate GNVQ in Business Studies.

"I loved school. I had lots of friends and I felt just like everyone else," says Julia at her home, where she lives with her parents and two younger brothers.

"I decided to study office work and computers because I liked using the computer. Also I'm very organised. I like things to be neat and tidy. I enjoy filing things so people know where everything is."

Every office could do with a Julia...

After school she went to New College Durham and did an NVQ Level 2 in administration and then to Finchale Training College for her ECDL computing qualification.

Since then, although she has applied for many jobs, in junior clerical work - filing, photocopying, post girl - she has had to be content with work placements.

"I've had placements in a few offices. I've done typing, photocopying, sorting the post, that sort of thing. I did six weeks at the health centre where I scanned in files onto the computer. I had to make sure they were all done properly and then sent to the right person. I like filing."

When applying for jobs, Julia always makes it clear she has Down's Syndrome. "Some people are surprised when they see me when I go for the interview. But it's there on my form," she says.

And she is wonderfully dismissive of some of the questions she's been asked. "One interviewer asked me how my best friend would describe me. Well I don't know. They should ask my best friend that."

She is aware of her limitations. "I like to have everything explained to me properly, but then I can get on with things on my own," she says. "I like to be sure I've got it right. And if I don't understand, I can always ask again."

In the meantime she keeps busy with voluntary work. She works in a charity shop and helps out at the local primary school one day a week, doing clerical work for the head teacher. "She knew me because she's my friend's mum so she knows what I can do," says Julia.

She's studying Spanish at Bishop Auckland College, playing the piano towards Grade 3, goes swimming and to the gym, does some clerical work for her parents. "But sometimes I get so bored. I really want to be working."

Last month Julia went to New College in Durham and did the Basic Food Hygiene Certificate, in the hope that might give her a chance of a job in a caf, broaden her chances.

Probably someone with Julia's qualifications but without the Down's Syndrome might have found a job by now. But, it it's any comfort, she is not alone. "In the past, children with Down's Syndrome received very little education," says Carole Boyes, Chief Executive of the Down's Syndrome Association. "But now we have a generation of young people with Down's Syndrome who have come through mainstream education, and they have greater expectations.

"Many are gaining qualifications - though not necessarily GCSEs - and are anxious to start work. The problem is that although times have changed, employers haven't really woken up to the fact that these young people are employable. "All we say is give them a chance, let them show what they can do."

"It is a label," says Julia's mother Rosemary. "And it is still fairly unusual for someone with Down's Syndrome to get qualifications so people don't expect that. That's why we're so proud of Julia because she has already achieved so much. But it does mean that people look at the label, rather than at what Julia can do. She has done so well so far and we are so proud of what she has achieved. It seems wrong that having done all that, no one will give her a chance to go further."