STEREOTYPE: Down syndrome births are by older women.
FACT: As maternal age increases above 35 years, the incidence of DS could increase. Records indicate that there are 1 in 1000 DS births at age 31,1 in 400 at age 35, and 1 in 100 at age 40.
This suggests that younger women have DS births as well as older women. Statistically, about 80% of babies with DS are born to women under age 35 years. This is because it falls within the active years for childbirths.
STEREOTYPES: People who live with Down syndrome can not be integrated into society, and they are not employable.
FACT: People with DS graduate from Secondary/High school and even participate in post secondary school experiences, thereby earning diplomas and college certifications. There are more successful people with DS than I can mention in a breath. A good number of them hold down jobs and own private businesses. I’ve read several stories and commendations from employers.
Back home, organizations like Patrick’s Speech and Language Centre, Down syndrome society of Nigeria, Mo Rainbow Foundation, KTC-KYC, The Engraced Ones (School of Grace), Inspired Christian School and others, are working assiduously to prepare children who live with disability in Nigeria for a future of financial independence.
While most people with the condition live in their homes in Nigeria, depending on severity, of course, abroad, they live either in supported Community Homes, with their parents, or independently.
STEREOTYPE: DS is a disease, and people who live with the condition often die young.
FACT: Down syndrome is not a disease, and people living with the condition do not always die young. The condition predisposes people to several ailments, but that is not to say they are sick. They could be very healthy. Life expectancy for people with the condition is on the rise from 60 to 80 years and beyond.
In any case, let me state here that length of days is determined by God.
Improved access to health care has reduced risks.
There is no known cure for Down syndrome, but management measures that focus on helping the child thrive physically and mentally are available. The challenge is in parts of the world where these services are too expensive for some people to access.
Management options could include physical and occasional therapy, inclusive education, open heart surgery, diet control, and so on.
Stereotype: People living with Down syndrome are always happy.
Oftentimes, people with DS are happy and pleasant to be with. They are the light of a party and anywhere they are. It is true that they may not understand sarcasm, but it is certainly absurd to assume they are always happy. They show emotions such as anger, excitement, irritability, and happiness. They are, in most cases, sensitive, sensible, and self-aware.
FACT: PEOPLE WITH DOWN SYNDROME ARE OFTEN HAPPY BUT ALSO CAPABLE OF EXPRESSING OTHER EMOTIONS AS OCCASION SERVES.
STEREOTYPE: People with Down syndrome are mentally retarded and cannot learn.
As always with stereotypes, this belief is a misconception.
Agreeably, individuals living with this condition are cognitively challenged and slow in learning in comparison with their neurotypical peers. We must realize that learning in itself has a broad definition. Learning is beyond academics. Sports, Arts, photography, and theatre are a few creative ways in which learning has expression. It would be a grave error to generalize that people with DS are mentally retarded or cannot learn.
FACT: PEOPLE WITH DOWN SYNDROME ARE NOT MENTALLY RETARDED. THEY LEARN AT A SLOWER RATE THAN THEIR PEERS AND ARE EXCELLING IN MANY FIELDS OF LEARNING, VOCATION AND CRAFT.
DEBUNKING STEREOTYPES: Down syndrome is a rare condition.
I can’t remember seeing anyone with DS until I was probably over 30 years old. I didn’t have a close encounter with someone living with it until my Mimi girl came to my family my loss!
In time past, people who lived with DS were either institutionalized or hidden away from the public. This may be one of the reasons why it looked like it was a rare condition.
Stereotype
Naturally, I was one of those who erroneously thought that Down syndrome was a rare condition (notice I don’t describe it as a disease).
Fact
Down Syndrome factsheets describe DS as the most common chromosomal disorder. Each year, about 6,000 babies are born with Down syndrome, which is about 1 in every 700 babies.
Down syndrome is not strange to people of all races and economic levels.
my loss!