Educate Yourself More About The Down Syndrome Disability
If your baby has received the Down syndrome diagnosis, then you’re likely feeling a wide range of emotions and asking yourself many questions. It’s true that your Down syndrome baby will carry a distinct set of facial features unlike your own and will have a tougher time learning. However, in many ways, raising Down syndrome children is just like raising any other. You’ll celebrate baby’s first walk or word, you’ll explain things to your child, you’ll send your kid to school, you’ll encourage him or her to pursue new hobbies and you’ll love that child more than you thought possible. It may be hard to fathom, but in the 1980s, children with Down syndrome rarely lived past ten. Today, they’re living independently, working at jobs, running in the Olympics and living fulfilling lives well into their fifties and sixties.
When learning about Down syndrome, you will discover there is a build-up of additional genetic material on the 21st chromosome. Doctors aren’t 100% sure what causes this abnormality, but they do know that parental age increases the risk. Eighty percent of Down syndrome babies are born to parents under 35, which is probably because more people in that age bracket are having children. Statistically speaking, a 25-year-old woman has a 1/3,000 chance of having a baby with Down syndrome, while a 35-year-old-woman has 1/365 odds of having a Down syndrome baby. By 45 years of age, her baby has a 1/30 chance of having downs! It is very rarely passed down genetically and it is estimated that only 3-4% of all downs cases are caused from inherited translocation of genetic material, while the rest appear to be caused by random, abnormal chromosomal activity.
If you have Down syndrome in the family or want to screen if you’re a carrier, then you can test for Down syndrome with a genetic counselor to determine your risk. During pregnancy, an ultrasound or blood test can offer a Down syndrome diagnosis in the first trimester. These tests are non-invasive, extremely safe and 87% effective in determining risk. However, it should be noted that as many as 1/20 women may test positive but deliver completely healthy babies anyway. If the blood test or ultrasound comes back positive, then women may then opt for a more accurate test that predicts results with 99% accuracy. Amniocentesis, which samples amniotic fluid, or chorionic villus sampling, which samples placenta cells, or percutaneous umbilical blood sampling, can all offer a diagnosis. However, the rate of miscarriage is as high as 1/100.
Widespread misperceptions still occasionally dog people with Down syndrome. Not all Down syndrome children are happy all the time or in their own world. In fact, most children can recognize the fact that they are somehow “different” and “unique” from others, but also realize that this “uniqueness” is not something that others envy. However, they employ various coping strategies, such as self-talk, following a routine and learning a hobby, which can help them develop their own “voice” in the world and build self-esteem. Art, music and athletic programs geared towards children and adults with Down syndrome have yielded extremely positive results in recent years.
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