Down Syndrome Characteristics

Down Syndrome, or DS, occurs when a trisomy is found in the twenty-first chromosome leaving three genetically identical chromatids. Down Syndrome is often seen as a disability that limits people while society is also portraying it as a defining characteristic that makes these unique people societal outcasts. Down Syndrome is taken very lightly instead of receiving the attention and care that it requires. In order to understand Down Syndrome, one must know the outcome and impact of Down Syndrome, one must know about the prenatal treatments, and one must know what living with Down Syndrome is like. Down Syndrome is “a genetic deformity” (Holliday) that occurs in the DNA. Many moms say that the first time they noticed their child had Down Syndrome
The most common of these characteristics being “oval-shaped eyes, a flattened nasal bridge, and small eyes and mouth” (Holliday). Individuals that have Down Syndrome will also have a higher chance to “be short and gain weight” (Holliday). These are many of the traits that are visible to the eye, but people with Down Syndrome are also likely to have hearing, visual, and heart problems. Although these inner traits are possible, they are much less likely to happen with a fifty to sixty percent chance of occurring unlike the eighty percent chance of the outer traits. Another very rare trait that may occur is that a child may not speak. Tricia Fauske recalls that by the time her son was three “he wasn’t speaking” (Holliday), and this was the first time that a doctor had used the term “disabled” when dealing with her son. Although this was a life changing event, it never once changed the way that she or the rest of her family, her husband and older son, looked at their
Timmy “also receives speech, occupational, and physical therapy” (Holliday). Occupational therapy helps Timmy work “on the dexterity of his fingers” (Holliday) while contrarily in Physical Therapy, Timmy works on “his gross motor skills like jumping” (Holliday). In Speech Therapy, Timmy not only practices his letters, but “he also practices talking with children his own age” (Holliday) which will lead him to a brighter future in effective communication later on in his life.
Down Syndrome is a very serious genetic disease that affects both the person that has Down Syndrome and the people that are close to them. Society needs to not take this disease as lightly, and society as a whole needs to stop treating these people as outcasts that do not belong in the world. With the help of many powerful organizations and people we can change the societal view of not only Down Syndrome, but also many other mental