Children With Down’s Syndrome – The Truth About Educating a Special Needs Child.
Down’s Syndrome is a genetic disease that affects about 1 in 800 children born.
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The Syndrome causes mental retardation and a significantly shorter life expectancy. These days Down’s Syndrome is a well-known condition and does not carry the same stigma as it did in the past. However, there can still be problems for those with Down’s Syndrome in certain parts of society. This is especially true when it comes to education.
Kids with Down’s Syndrome can - and do - learn, but at a slower pace than other children. Yet with Down’s Syndrome children it is important that speech and motor skills therapy are instilled at an early age. This will help in later life when a lack of these skills can really hold them back.
Children with Down’s Syndrome are entitled to an education after the age of three under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Many children with Down’s Syndrome can grow up to have at least semi-independent living and to have a job and participate in their communities.
Obviously any mentally handicapped child has a struggle to develop. Some cases of Down’s Syndrome involve only a slight degree of mental retardation, but there is a tendency towards “concrete thinking” or naiveté. In addition, children with Down’s Syndrome tend to be shorter, grow slower, and reach a smaller adult height than those without Down’s Syndrome. Modern medicine has been a great help in dealing with the physical handicaps of Down’s Syndrome children, which include congenital heart defects, and problems with hearing and vision.
There have been attempts to involve Down’s Syndrome children in mainstream education. This has had some successes, but usually a second teacher is needed to give extra classes and extra attention to the Down’s Syndrome children.
They also have a slower social development, and it situations where the Down’s Syndrome children would be unnecessarily ridiculed by their peers should be avoided where possible. However, it is important to socialize them with other children rather than exclusively with their disabled peers.