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.