Reply to True statement? Downs Syndrome is a spectrum

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[quote=Anonymous]
Hi All,
I will just chime in as the mother of an adult daughter with DS that there is definitely a spectrum of functioning levels with DS as there is with most disabilities.  One aspect of DS is that some individuals can also be on the Autism spectrum.  When our youngest daughter began public education, she was the first student with DS to demonstrate that a child with this disability could learn to read as her peers at a young age.  She still benefitted from a self-contained program with mainstreaming out for one class in grades K-4.  Her strength was in literacy skills, and this is where the emphasis was placed.  A few years ago, a student with DS received a regular high school diploma in the same school system.  She did this with a lot of tutoring, but definitely had much stronger cognitive skills.

Our daughter has worked in the same college dining hall since she completed an excellent Post High program part-time during the academic year three days a week.  She has volunteered at the local senior center wiping tables one or two days a week depending on college breaks part-time.  In her job she earns $14.57 as any other peer in her job category.  She participates in some Special Olympics sports, and she enjoys more the local Adaptive Recreation program offering - Zoom and now getting back to in-person.  She has taken piano lesson weekly since she was 15 and has now progressed from pre-primer to Level 2 with chord and two-handed pieces.  her rhythm may not be quite typical, but she has some very good pieces and enjoys playing about 45 minutes a week.  It is a good outlet to continue to develop mental pathways that she used to use a lot more while in school.  She keeps her own calendar, can organize all she needs for four different things she does weekly ahead of time, can stay on her own safely at home and enjoys weekly outings in the community with a college student.  We would not leave her overnight on her own.   She will always need some direct supervision in a housing setting as for one thing she has sleep apnea and lacks the muscle strength to handle the equipment nightly.

Looking back education for us was not about socialization after preschool, but to educate her as we knew before she began the academic outlook back then was a placement in functional skills only.  By 10th grade, we actually opted for a placement in that classroom as the other high school teachers at that time were too used to "little or no supervision and an attitude of working towards the lowest common denominator of little parental involvement"(often through no fault of the parents of the students they taught.)  When I saw their lazy attitudes, I opted for the wonderful teacher who would prepare one for life in the community and most importantly a job.  Also, we always had the same social and behavioral expectations of our youngest as we did for our older two daughters.  I think this approach helped her do well out in society.  She knows she has Down syndrome and does not mind that, but she will say she is not MR which lets you know one picks up the negative words very early.  It is not a walk in the park, but I can also attest that those judged to be "the best and the brightest" can also have their issues.
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