October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month – (Series #1)

Just the 2 of Us

This post is to announce that October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month.  Every Saturday in this month (October) I will publish an article about Down Syndrome to increase awareness.

My daughter, Hannah, was born with Trisomy 21.  She is 6 years old and is doing good.  She is like any other 6-year-old, but it takes her longer to learn things, but when she learns something new, you better watch out.

Hannah is home schooled and she is doing well.  She is stubborn when it comes to Math, but she loves learning phonics, whole words, and writing.  Hannah is a very happy and sociable child and I am thankful for that.

What is Trisomy 21?

Someone once told  me that they didn’t know that ‘black people’ were born with Trisomy 21.  My response was that, “It doesn’t matter what race a person is, it can happen to anyone.”

Trisomy 21 is chromosomal disorder that occurs during cellular division (after egg and sperm unite).  Everyone is born with 46 chromosomes and we get 23 from our father and 23 from our mother.  But for some reason, a person with Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome) has 47 chromosomes (extra genetic material).  The extra chromosome appears on the 21st pair;  instead of two chromosomes, there are 3 (tri).

Every person who is born with Trisomy 21, is not low functioning, in fact a lot of people born with Trisomy 21 do very well.  But in order for this to happen, they must have a support system in place.

This is the case for any person, regardless if they have Trisomy 21 or not, because if a child is not nurtured, loved, supported and taught, then functioning well in society will be challenging.

Conclusion

Last year I shared a video of my daughter with you and I will share it again in this post.  This kicks off my series of posts about Down Syndrome Awareness.

Some of you may never come in contact with a person who has Down Syndrome, but if you ever do I am here to tell you there is no reason to be afraid or be shy around them, just be yourself and treat them like you would the next person.

Happy Saturday!

Tags: down syndrome, featured, positive attitude, support

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