Those with Down syndrome tend to copy and play with others. Autistic individuals may have impairment in language development, with delayed language skills, while people with Down syndrome develop language more like neurotypical children. So, are Down syndrome and autism the same thing or the same disorder? No.
Background. Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) are at high risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with ~20% of individuals meeting diagnostic criteria for ASD.
How many people have autism? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 1% of the world's population has autism spectrum disorder – over 75,000,000 people. That may be a large number, but autism spectrum disorder (ASD) features a wide range of symptoms and levels of severity.
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.
Some of the children with Mosaic Down syndrome that we know do not actually look as if they have Down syndrome - the usual physical features are not obvious. This raises some important and difficult social issues and identity issues for both parents and children, which parents have discussed with us.
Most individuals with Down syndrome have mild (IQ: 50–69) or moderate (IQ: 35–50) intellectual disability with some cases having severe (IQ: 20–35) difficulties. Those with mosaic Down syndrome typically have IQ scores 10–30 points higher than that.
What is mosaic Down syndrome? Mosaic Down syndrome happens when an extra copy of chromosome 21 is present in some, but not all, of the body's cells. Chromosomes contain all of the genetic information that tells our body how to grow and function.
It is estimated that approximately 1 in every 1100 babies born in Australia will have Down syndrome. This means that approximately 290 new babies with Down syndrome are born each year. The incidence of births of children with Down syndrome increases with the age of the mother.
Down Syndrome rates increased over time among individuals who identify as Black, Hispanic, or AIAN, but not among white or Asian individuals. Whether accessing and navigating changes in Down syndrome testing is contributing to these disparities in outcomes needs further study.
In a sample of 75 children with trisomy for chromosome 21, or Down syndrome, there were 42 males and 33 females. The sex ratio was 1.30 which is statistically not significant (p greater than 0.05).
It is estimated that 1 in 100 people in Australia have Autism. In 2018 there were 205,200 Australians with Autism, a 25.1% increase from the 164,000 in 2015 (Source: ABS SDAC 2018– Autism in Australia). This means that if you have Autism you are not alone.
Although the exact cause of autism is still unknown, there is evidence to suggest that genetics play a significant role. Since autism is less prevalent in females, autism was always thought to be passed down from the mother. However, research suggests that autism genes are usually inherited from the father.
There are some similarities in symptoms between Down syndrome and autism. People with either condition may have trouble socializing, communicating, and with mood regulation. They may also have obsessive interests or perform repetitive behaviors.
ASD and DS are not the same conditions, but they can occur together. About 20% of people with Down syndrome are also autistic. There are some distinct and key differences between autism and Down syndrome.
Asperger's Syndrome, a form of Autism Spectrum Disorder, is a developmental disorder. Young people with Asperger's Syndrome have a difficult time relating to others socially and their behavior and thinking patterns can be rigid and repetitive.
Older mothers are more likely to have a baby affected by Down syndrome than younger mothers. In other words, the prevalence of Down syndrome increases as the mother's age increases. Prevalence is an estimate of how often a condition occurs among a certain group of people.
Down syndrome occurs in people of all races and economic levels. The risk increases with the mother's age (1 in 1250 for a 25 year old mother to 1 in 1000 at age 31, 1 in 400 at age 35, and about 1 in 100 at age 40). However, 80% of babies with Down syndrome are born to women under age 35 years.
(De Graaf et al., 2022). There is no definitive scientific research that indicates that Down syndrome is caused by environmental factors or the parents' activities before or during pregnancy. The additional partial or full copy of the 21st chromosome which causes Down syndrome can originate from either parent.
Even though people with Down syndrome might act and look similar, each person has different abilities. 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.
In Australia, it is estimated that 90% of prospective parents choose termination following confirmation of a high chance screening result for Down syndrome. In 2021, Down Syndrome Australia conducted a national survey to explore expectant parents' experiences of prenatal screening.
The rate of Down syndrome for both maternal and paternal age greater than 40 years is approximately 60 per 10,000 births, which is a six-fold increase compared with maternal and paternal ages less than 35 years of age. In this age group, the paternal contribution to Down syndrome was 50 percent.
Their personality characteristics vary, as well. Think of the different personality traits that typical people have and you have just as many traits that can occur in people with Down syndrome – they can be funny, sarcastic, indifferent, ambitious, laid back, high strung, loving… the list could go on forever.
Down's syndrome can be traced through families in less than 1% of people with the condition. These people all have rare types of translocation. It is very unusual for parents to have more than one child with Down's syndrome, or for relatives of these parents to have a child with the condition.