Down syndrome: education and the future of children

All children in general need stimuli for learning and to enhance their motor, cognitive and emotional capacities. Children with Down syndrome are not an exception, but due to their special characteristics they need a different training. Muscle atony determines differences in the development of walki

All children in general need stimuli for learning and to enhance their motor, cognitive and emotional capacities. Children with Down syndrome are not an exception, but due to their special characteristics they need a different training. Muscle atony determines differences in the development of walking ability, or in the fine motor skills of children with Down syndrome. But on the other hand, the visual abilities of children with Down syndrome are, in general, superior to the auditory ones, and their comprehension capacity is superior to that of expression, so their language is scarce and appears with a certain delay, although they compensate for their verbal deficiencies with more developed skills in non-verbal language such as eye contact, social smile or signing to make themselves understood. Adapted education for children with Down syndrome

In general, children with Down syndrome can do most of the things that small children do, such as talking, walking, dressing and learning to go to the bathroom. However, they generally learn later than other children. The insertion of children with Down syndrome into special programs, starting at pre-school age, helps them to develop their skills, to benefit from early intervention and special education.

Specific early care programs (during the first six years of life) designed especially for children with Down syndrome aim to maximize their adaptive and learning mechanisms. Thus, for example, to teach a child with Down syndrome to read, conventional methods are not used, but graphic methods (from cards, or tokens, that associate image and word) that take into account their greater capacity visual and they are getting excellent results. In addition, these programs allow the acquisition of these skills to be achieved much earlier, to continue with educational programs that fully integrate the person with Down syndrome in a work environment in the future.

While there are special work programas programs designed for adults with Down syndrome

, many people affected by this disorder are able to work regularly. Today, the number of adults with Down syndrome who live almost independently, in community homes, caring for themselves, participating in household chores, making friends, taking part in recreational activities and working in their community, It is growing.

Can people with Down syndrome get married?People with Down syndrome are sociable, have dates and form relationships. Some get married. Although rare, women with Down syndrome can and do have children. In any pregnancy, a woman with Down syndrome has a 50 percent chance of conceiving a child with Down syndrome, but many pregnancies with affected fetuses are naturally lost.Sources consulted:

- Fundació Catalana Síndrome de Down

- Fundación Síndrome de Down-Valencia

- Spanish associations- International associations