What are some of the
symptoms of Down syndrome?

...and what can be done to help?

Many symptoms of Down syndrome can be addressed through different therapies and medical surgical techniques. These activities help the person with Down syndrome enormously with their quality of life!


Speech

Speech issues are commonly a symptom of Down syndrome. Because of low muscle tone, or hypotonia, frequently the muscles of the mouth and face are affected as well as the rest of the body. This can cause slurring of speech, or some sounds not being formed correctly. Of course this makes it really hard to be understood!

When people find it difficult to understand you, it’s hard to communicate. And even harder to make friends and find a job. Speech therapy is very important, and it’s available, either through your local Regional Center if your child is under 3, or through your local school district for children over the age of 3.

To help get over the hump, baby sign language is taught from a very early age. Parents are thrilled at the results! It's exciting to be able to find out what your baby is thinking.


Low Muscle Tone (Hypotonia)

One of the endearing things about babies with Down syndrome is their softness. They can be so soft and squishable you just want to eat them up! Unfortunately this can be a problem.

Low muscle tone is a symptom of Down syndrome and it basically takes their strength away, making it harder to sit up, hold their head up, roll over, walk, or hold a bottle or pencil or a book.

Some kids have slight hypotonia. Some are severely affected and some are right in the middle of the spectrum. But all can benefit with the help of physical therapy.

Physical therapy helps kids to grow stronger and become more coordinated. It helps them to run and jump, and climb stairs better. Granted, they might learn this on their own eventually, but receiving therapy makes the difference of walking at a much earlier age. And without it, some might never walk.

This isn’t said to scare you. Most kids with Down syndrome get around just fine. Some need more help. And some race around the room with the parents wishing their kid would sit down!

Hypotonia can and does affect the hands and fingers as well. The hands can be strengthened with the use of occupational therapy. Occupational therapists are used to working with children and have all kinds of tools disguised as toys to help them progress.


Cognitive Function

It’s simply a fact that all people who are born with Down syndrome have some level of mental retardation. It's another symptom of Down syndrome. There is a range of severe to moderate to mildly affected. Most people with Down syndrome fall into the mild to moderate range. Everyone can be helped, however, with the use of Early Intervention techniques.

The Early Intervention (EI) teacher is someone who is specially trained to teach children under the age of three many things, such as matching colors, choosing, stacking, sign language, learning concepts like big and little, and some light physical and occupational therapy.

They will be with your child until their third birthday, so these teachers have a lot of different techniques and tricks to bring out the best in your child. They work hard to overcome the symptoms of Down syndrome.

You might think that stacking blocks or matching colors dosen't matter all that much…after all, that’s just child’s play. Actually this child’s play is so much more important then you can imagine. With each activity, a new concept is learned. This stimulates the brain to grow and develop normally.

Even crawling properly is important. The crawling movement stimulates proper neuron connections in the brain. Who knew?

EI has been done since the 1970’s. In fact, Early-intervention programs, nurturing families, and special-education classes have contributed to a 15-point rise in the I.Q. scores of children with Down syndrome in the last 30 years, says Stephen Greenspan, a professor of psychiatry and former president of the Academy on Mental Retardation.

That’s amazing! So just by teaching kids who were once considered unteachable, their I.Q. is raised by 15 points? As we continue to study the symptoms of Down syndrome, who knows what the future may bring? It’s an exciting time. Stimulate the brain, and the brain will respond. It seems like such a simple concept.

More cognitive studies are being done in the scientific world. Their findings are extremely exciting!


Physical Birth Defects

Heart defects and gastrointestinal problems are another symptoms of Down syndrome. These defects can be corrected through surgery most of the time. In a few cases the doctors do their best, but it’s just not good enough. This isn’t the norm, however.

Surgical techniques for repairing heart defects are very, very good today. There is a high success rate for heart repair.

Congenital heart disease affects many children, not just children with Down syndrome, although a baby with Down syndrome has a 40-50% chance of having some kind of heart defect. The good news is that surgical intervention can help the vast majority of these kids.

Your child also has a 10-12% change of being born with some kind of gastrointestinal problem. There are a few different types of malformations, but all of them can be corrected with surgery. Some babies, depending on the type of malformation, will need surgery immediately.

There are other symptoms of Down syndrome like vision and hearing issues. Please be aware that most all of these symptoms of Down syndrome can and are being addressed, and with great success.

Not everyone’s life is perfect, not even a typical child’s life--but everyone can raise their quality of living and most can have a meaningful, happy life.

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