It has been speculated that there is a personality/behavioural phenotype among people with Down's syndrome, although research has been inconclusive. There is little evidence to support severe psychotic disturbance and aggressive behaviours being common in the Down's syndrome population.
Common behavior problems such as aggression, tantrums and "noncompliance" are not part of DS-ASD. For instance, it is not necessary for a child to have these behaviors to meet diagnostic criteria for the DS-ASD.
An important study in the journal of mental health research in intellectual disabilities shows that children with Down syndrome demonstrate increased behavioral issues compared with their typical peers. Early intervention and a development strategy can help.
They often have mild to moderate intellectual disability and may have specific challenges with attention span, verbal memory, and expressive communication. Behavioral problems such as stubbornness, impulsivity, and temper tantrums may be more common in children with Down syndrome.
Most of the time, it's at a moderate level. If you have a baby with Down syndrome, you'll need to care for, talk to, play with, and love them like any other infant. It's important to have high expectations for your baby with Down syndrome.
Individuals with Down syndrome also show impaired explicit long-term memory for verbal information, and may also have particular problems in explicit long-term memory for visual-object associations.
Babies with Down's syndrome are like any newborn babies.
They'll be eating, sleeping, crying, and needing love and cuddles just like all babies. Some babies with Down's syndrome might need extra help. This could be with things like feeding.
Typically, these children have a much harder time learning to talk (expressive language) than with understanding what they hear (receptive language). On average, children with Down syndrome start using words around 16 months of age—about 6 months later than other children.
Down Syndrome Learning Difficulties
Hearing and vision weakness. Fine motor skill impairment due to low muscle tone. Weak auditory memory. Short attention span and distractibility.
Also, many children with Down syndrome love music. Singing and dancing are excellent ways to work on language, social interaction and motor skills! While picking out toys for any child, it is important to keep a few things in mind to ensure suitability for the child's development and growth.
For some children, sensory-seeking behaviors are their way of calming down and relieving stress, so allowing access to self-stim as needed can help children regulate their stress and emotion. For example, a child may be offered access to their iPad when upset, if music input helps them self soothe.
One theory is that children with Down syndrome may be more likely to experience anxiety and sensory processing issues, which can lead to aggression. Additionally, children with Down syndrome may have difficulty communicating their needs and desires, which can also lead to frustration and aggression.
People with Down syndrome usually have an IQ (a measure of intelligence) in the mildly-to-moderately low range and are slower to speak than other children. Some common physical features of Down syndrome include: A flattened face, especially the bridge of the nose.
The average intelligence quotient (IQ) of children with DS is around 50, ranging between 30 and 70. Remarkably, a small number of patients have a profound degree of ID, whereas others have a mild degree despite the absence of any genetic, cultural or familial favoring or disfavoring causes.
Behavior changes in adults with Down syndrome have many potential causes. Some individuals have difficulty with the transition into adulthood as they face the loss of social networks, departure of older siblings, death of loved ones, changes in housing, and the challenge of obtaining meaningful work.
Students with DS cannot do this as well. They lack the language, the cognitive flexibility needed in verbal discourse and the larger world view to win many verbal arguments. So...they look stubborn.
People with Down syndrome can expect to live to 60
In the 1940s, a child with Down syndrome had a life expectancy of 12 years. These days, their life expectancy is 60 years and a baby born with Down syndrome could live into their 80s — in line with the general population.
Previous research has found that mothers raising children with Down's syndrome report lower levels of parenting stress and symptoms of depression than mothers raising children with other diagnoses. This has sometimes been known as the 'Down's syndrome advantage.
With careful programming, children with Down syndrome can learn to read as soon as they are “table ready,” that is, able to sit at a table and respond to and cooperate with an instructor for approximately five minutes (Broun, 2007). Children with Down syndrome can benefit from an early start with reading instruction.
Attention problems
If your child has Down Syndrome, he/she may have a short attention span. Their behavior can often be impulsive. In this case, their behavior is similar to children with anxiety disorders, language processing problems, and hearing loss.
Down syndrome can affect learning abilities in different ways, but it usually causes mild to moderate intellectual impairment. Children with Down syndrome have delays in speech and motor skills, and may need help with self-care, such as dressing and grooming.
Inheritance. Most cases of Down syndrome are not inherited. When the condition is caused by trisomy 21, the chromosomal abnormality occurs as a random event during the formation of reproductive cells in a parent. The abnormality usually occurs in egg cells, but it occasionally occurs in sperm cells.
The average age for 1st period in girls with Down's syndrome is 12 years 6 months (in the general population it is approx 13 years). Periods often begin 2 years after the start of breast development. Periods do not usually start before age 9 years and most girls will have started their periods by 15 years.