We have a 10month old kid with downs. Fortunately she has a light case when it comes to appearance and apparent intelligence, as busy as any of our kids, already scooting a few months behind the time of the other kids, mostly low muscle tone, a bit of eye shape, and sometimes Nystagmus, the small PVD she had has closed. I now wonder what kind of life she will have especially with the assumptions people make. Downs is not actually an affliction or impediment to a good life as long as there is no physical disability involved, IQ varies widely, and I think sometimes people are more accepting of people with T21 enjoying their lives in a creative way rather than a linear program of school to office hours to retirement with a vacation or two every year to enhance productivity. This is a pretty cool story since I had thought Downs kids historically were often the monster brother or sister hidden in the attic or basement, thanks Maggie.
Thank you dobby. I feel I haven’t researched this situation satisfactorily in the past although always intending to. You have encouraged me to do some research and have enlightened me greatly with your message and your own experience.
Making a diagnosis on someone who died centuries ago is usually impossible but there has been speculation that Fedor I, son of Ivan the Terrible, had Down syndrome. His reign was a disaster and triggered a civil war after he died childless.
Friday, July 26, 2013 was the #7. #8 should be soon?
It’s none of my business, but the folks that bug me are the ones that don’t believe in birth control, which is OK except that as they keep having kids, and, as they get older, the odds are vastly higher that eventually one will have T21 or other birth defect. Then they have a whole house full of kids and a special needs baby. Hell, by the time someone has had eight kids, one is probably going to end up in prison,. The benefit/risk ratio of large family size drops off really fast, not just for the parents but the other kids as well, assuming low infant and child mortality .
If Darwin’s son had Down’s, he could have also had the heart defect that is commonly associated with the condition. Today it is repairable… The other concern is early onset dementia around age 50.
Especially here, because Down’s is not an inherited disorder and there is no carrier to be found in Darwins descendants - ie it is a somatic mutation that is not inherited.
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