Children With Down Syndrome: Strategy Notebook

“Down’s syndrome or learning difficulties are at a lower risk of 4 in 10 infants per 1000 live infants born”.

In order to fully serve all students within a classroom setting, it is helpful to consider the membership of each individual class member. The criteria used to consider a student’s membership or citizenship within a classroom community comes from the book, Schooling Children with Down Syndrome: Toward an Understanding of Possibility, written by Christopher Kliewer in 1998. “The four elements of citizenship (are): 1) a belief in one’s ability to think, 2) a belief in one’s individuality, 3) a belief in the reciprocity of the relationship, and 4) a shared social place.” (Rapp, p.129, 2012) The ultimate goal for each student is to achieve full citizenship where the contributions of each member are considered by others and the academic needs of each member are also being met. Rapp further explains Kliewer’s elements to possess a “belief that everyone is capable of thinking-thinking deeply, thinking creatively, thinking for themselves” (Rapp, p.129, 2012), “the belief that each person has unique characteristics all his or her own” (Rapp, p.130, 2012), “you believe that everyone has something to give and everyone has something to receive; everyone is a teacher and a learner” (Rapp, p.129, 2012), and “it is a place where each individual belongs and where he or she is valued and can take risks without fear or failure or persecution.” (Rapp, p.129, 2012) The common theme of Kliewer’s elements revolves around ideas of being open minded and believing that

The National Association for Down Syndrome is governed much like a traditional corporation, with a board of directors and staff members, although it is a nonprofit. "NADS is the oldest organization in the country serving individuals with Down syndrome and their families. It was founded in Chicago in 1961 by parents who chose to go against medical advice and raised their children with Down syndrome at home" (About NADS, 2012, NADS). From its inception, NADS was designed to provide support for parents of children with Down syndrome and their offspring. Its key stakeholders are parents and children, and it strives to educate the larger community about the disorder and to cultivate community resources to better enable parents to raise their children in a supportive and loving environment that caters to the children's special needs. Information-gathering and dissemination, support, and advocacy on a national and local level are all part of the organizations' mission.

When there is a heart defect currently in an infant with Down syndrome, the infant is referred to a “pediatric cardiologist” for medical attention or to a “pediatric cardiac surgeon for early surgical repair.” Some infants with Down Syndrome have difficulties with swallowing or they may have blockages in their bowels. Surgery can be performed to correct these problems. After they are corrected, they usually cause no further health issues. Children with Down syndrome may have “frequent colds and sinus and ear infections.” These are treated early and aggressively to prevent hearing loss and chronic infections. Low thyroid levels are more common in infants who have Down syndrome. It is recommended that “thyroid level testing” be performed at least yearly. Some infants with Down syndrome have eye problems such as cataracts (cloudy lenses) or crossed eyes (strabismus). Surgery can help with these problems. Sucking problems related to low muscle tone or heart problems may make breast feeding difficult to begin with. “Occupational therapists, speech therapists, breast feeding consultants and support groups usually have exact sources for the mothers of infants with Down syndrome.” Intelligence in individuals with Down syndrome ranges from low normal to very slow to learn. At birth it is not possible to tell the level of intelligence a baby with Down syndrome will have. All areas of development including “motor

The researcher conducted a longitudinal study over a span of two-years on 83 children who met the criteria. The children that were chose had disabilities ranging from ASD to developmental disabilities including Down syndrome. Each child was given an

Down Syndrome Video Case Analysis "Educating Peter" Jessica Goldberg SPE 222: Orient to Ed Exceptional Child (2018 Spring - B) Arizona State University The video, “Educating Peter”, was very eye opening and educating to watch. The video talks about a student Peter Gwasdauskis, who has down syndrome and the trials and tribulations that he went through in his first year of public school. Peter is seen as inconsistent and unpredictable, which caused the teacher to watch other children carefully and Peter very carefully. The students all individually took charge of the unique and uncomfortable situations that occurred in class. The students either firmly told Peter that they did not like what he was doing, or they helped him so if he was struggling with his work he was pushed into the right direction.

Down syndrome is a disorder with a genetic basis: the fertilized egg that develops into a child with Down syndrome has three Chromosome 21s instead of the two found in individuals without Down syndrome. Children with Down syndrome experience neurocognitive deficits in the areas of language development, communication, memory, and higher order thinking skills that depend on judgment and integration of concepts (Davis, 2008). The significance of these impairments for teachers and educational systems is that children with Down syndrome learn at a slower rate than other children, but they are capable of learning in integrated classroom assistance when targeted accommodations have been identified and made available. Invariably, teachers in integrated settings who have students with Down syndrome in their classes will make targeted instructional decisions that are designed to capitalize on the students' strengths and minimize their weaknesses. This paper discusses successful strategies that are adaptable to the education of students with Down syndrome in integrated educational environments.

Health concerns remain a stressor for parents of children with Down syndrome throughout the ages. Solomon (2012) found that as adults most children with Down syndrome still lived at home with their parents as caretakers or lived in a group home. As adults, these children with Down syndrome were successful and happy, however, through the interventions and therapies were these children trajectories for success. One of the problems with Down syndrome is that if affects cognition, which influences language. Communication can be difficult for a child with Down syndrome; he or she might feel alone and misunderstood by his or her parents. It can be frustrating for parents as well unable to communicate with their child.

From Charlie and Claire’s presentation, I learned about the consistent behaviors of children with Down Syndrome as well as the importance of intervention and support through development. When I was in high school, I babysat Emma, a girl with Down Syndrome, regularly. I noticed that some of the mannerisms that Charlie continually made were similar to those that I knew Emma to make. For example, Charlie is active and likes to have control when he can, which was demonstrated when he asked everyone to put their computers away and led the “question answering session” in an orderly fashion. Much like Emma, Charlie shows compassion and the desire for human touch and interaction. I also learned about the potential role that an SLP might have as a child with Down Syndrome develops. I know that it is typical for children with Down Syndrome to have a smaller oral cavity, which results in a larger tongue for space provided. Thus being said, an SLP can work with the child through learning how to produce speech intelligibly. I noticed that Charlie was stuttering at certain points, but

Some schools offer special programs that take in people with disabilities and they teach them slower based off of their prior knowledge (Routh). These students are working in an environment with other children just like them and who don’t have this disability. They often go to the classes with the kids without Down Syndrome so they can express who they really are.

School systems are the main supplier of speech-language services, but they have strategies that conclude whether a child is appropriate for their services. Sometimes eligibility criteria depends on whether a child's test results are below those for his age; other criteria comprise of the relationship between cognitive and language levels. Parents must ensure that they are conscious of the eligibility criteria, as well as the federal, state or local legislation and policies that relate to service rescue in speech and language. There are some other insecurities by the parents regarding their child ut they have to work on it by themselves because the children with down syndrome are more close to those whom they feel affection and care, they are sensitive and need more attention from their siblings, parent and other family members. For this purpose, parents must be caution and much concerned about their child and his medical history all the

Even though people with Down syndrome were alluded to in art, literature, and science for year little was known about it (What Is Down Syndrome?”).

It is a common belief that certain things will never happen to us. We often convince ourselves that the odds will never reach us or the ones we love. This statement remains true for the likelihood of the effects of down syndrome. Although the syndrome is often misunderstood, it is very true that those affected by it lead a very active and healthy life. I, myself am guilty of the social ignorance of down syndrome, that is until my cousin Joby was diagnosed with down syndrome. Over the past two years I have watched my cousin blossom into an outstanding curious child with a passion like no other. Down syndrome is classified in several different forms such as the causes, diagnosis, and how it affects one’s life .

The concern for children with Down syndrome, who may need special education, falls to general education teachers and their parents. Teachers are usually on their own when it comes to figuring out how to modify lessons to help the student with Down syndrome, and evaluating potential interventions to his or

My second observation was of a child with Down Syndrome. This little girl was basically non-verbal. Her session consisted of mostly signing by the child, with the clinician talking and signing. When she would make a sound, it was unintelligible and mostly in the CV form. The child had a hard time focusing on the tasks and when she did not want to do something she would throw it over her left shoulder onto the floor. They had to keep her belted into the stroller so that she wouldn't run away. It looked as if she had some visual deficits due to the nature of her glasses with very thick lenses. She had a nasal grimace and squinted a lot. She used her gestures the majority of the time. She pointed a lot of and used the sign for "more" frequently,