Downs syndrome? Nope, unless you live in England!If you are interested in Down syndrome or Downs syndrome, you will be interested in using the right words and phrases in speaking about your loved one with Down sydrome. Any loving parent or grandparent, aunt, uncle, sibling, cousin, neighbor, or friend (and if you are reading this, YOU are one of those!) will want to spread respect through the words you say. In the USA, it’s Down syndrome. Capital 'D', lower case 's', no 's' on the end of Down. Why? Because Down syndrome was named after John Langdon Down, a physician in the 1800’s who first noticed the similar features of people living in the institution he was in charge of. Down is someone’s name--therefore needing capitalization. It’s not “a down syndrome child” or “a downs kid” or even a “downie”, as cute as that nickname sounds. The way to speak with the most respect is to say “A child with Down syndrome” or “Madison has Down syndrome”. Say the person first. This may seem trivial, but would you say “the breast cancer woman” or “the enlarged prostate man”? No! You would say the woman or the man first (or their name), THEN the issue they are dealing with. People first language is so important to our kids. They have enough to deal with—let’s support them by gently educating our family, friends, and neighbors. One way I advocate is by wearing t-shirts. It’s an easy way to tell the truth about Down syndrome without ever opening my mouth! Down syndrome is not an affliction, or a disease, or something horrible one is suffering from. Down syndrome is a syndrome. It is present at the cellular level. It is a complete change or transformation of the person's DNA. Down syndrome is not scary, it's just different!
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