As with all children, raising a child can be very rewarding, but also very challenging. Support is important for the parents and families of a person with Down syndrome. Creating a strong support network of family, friends, community groups and respite care providers is important.
Most of the time, it's at a moderate level. If you have a baby with Down syndrome, you'll need to care for, talk to, play with, and love them like any other infant.
Every family has their joys, stresses, and challenges, but when you have a child with Down syndrome, things look a little different. Besides juggling school, music lessons, sports, and jobs, you typically have a lot of extra visits with doctors and therapists in the mix.
Many pregnancies in women with Down syndrome produce children both with normal and with trisomy 21, whereas males are infertile. However, Down syndrome males are not always infertile and this is not global. Here we reported a 36-year-old man with proved nonmosaic trisomy 21 fathered two normal boys.
There have also been many research studies that explore how having a child with Down syndrome affects families. These have shown that while these families do experience additional challenges, their levels of well-being are comparable to families who do not have a child with Down syndrome.
Both men and women can pass the genetic translocation for Down syndrome on to their children. Having had one child with Down syndrome. Parents who have one child with Down syndrome and parents who have a translocation themselves are at an increased risk of having another child with Down syndrome.
The extra chromosome comes from either the mother or the father. It makes no difference to the person with Down's syndrome which parent the extra chromosome came from.
Most individuals with Down syndrome have mild (IQ: 50–69) or moderate (IQ: 35–50) intellectual disability with some cases having severe (IQ: 20–35) difficulties. Those with mosaic Down syndrome typically have IQ scores 10–30 points higher than that.
People with Down syndrome can expect to live to 60
In the 1940s, a child with Down syndrome had a life expectancy of 12 years. These days, their life expectancy is 60 years and a baby born with Down syndrome could live into their 80s — in line with the general population.
If someone in your family has a child with Down syndrome, you may wonder if you will, too. Even though Down syndrome is a genetic condition, in most cases, it is not passed down from other family members. Down syndrome (also called trisomy 21) is the most common chromosomal condition in the United States.
They often have mild to moderate intellectual disability and may have specific challenges with attention span, verbal memory, and expressive communication. Behavioral problems such as stubbornness, impulsivity, and temper tantrums may be more common in children with Down syndrome.
It has been speculated that there is a personality/behavioural phenotype among people with Down's syndrome, although research has been inconclusive. There is little evidence to support severe psychotic disturbance and aggressive behaviours being common in the Down's syndrome population.
Down Syndrome Learning Difficulties
Hearing and vision weakness. Fine motor skill impairment due to low muscle tone. Weak auditory memory. Short attention span and distractibility.
Studies on the impact of DS on families show that 96% of parents did not regret having a child with Down syndrome, while 96% of siblings wouldn't trade their sibling with Down syndrome for a sibling without it. And 99% of people with Down syndrome say that they are happy with their lives.
For example the average age for walking in typically developing children is 13 months and the range is 9-17 months, while the average age for walking in children with Down syndrome is 24 months and the range is 13-48 months.
Typically, these children have a much harder time learning to talk (expressive language) than with understanding what they hear (receptive language). On average, children with Down syndrome start using words around 16 months of age—about 6 months later than other children.
In a sample of 75 children with trisomy for chromosome 21, or Down syndrome, there were 42 males and 33 females. The sex ratio was 1.30 which is statistically not significant (p greater than 0.05).
Currently, Ireland tops the countries with the highest rate of Down syndrome prevalence, as its incidence of the syndrome is reported to be 27.5 per 10,000 live births.
Pulmonary infectious disease is the leading cause of mortality in Down syndrome, caused by both intrinsic (morphological factors) and extrinsic (immune dysfunction) factors. Listed in each organ cartoon are genes implicated in disturbed heart, lung and immune function.
As for any pregnancy reduced fetal movements are a sign of the fetus being in poor condition and should not be accepted as “typical for a baby with Down's syndrome.” Mothers need to be reminded that babies should remain active even during late pregnancy and to report any reduction in fetal movements.
Many pregnancies in women with Down syndrome produce children both with normal and with trisomy 21, whereas males are infertile. However, Down syndrome males are not always infertile and this is not global. Here we reported a 36-year-old man with proved nonmosaic trisomy 21 fathered two normal boys.
People of all ages with Down syndrome can and do enjoy a variety of relationships with family members, friends, acquaintances, community members, and even sweethearts and spouses.
They have similar features due to extra genetic material that affects growth of the maxilla (part of the skull) and the bone, cartilage, and connective tissue in the head, known as the cranial neural crest. 15 It creates common Down syndrome features such as upturned, almond-shaped eyes and a smaller head.
Until now, however, the effect of paternal age has been controversial. Various large U.S. and European epidemiological studies of the disorder have shown no influence between paternal age and Down syndrome, while smaller studies have demonstrated conflicting results.