What’s Different? What’s the Same?

People who have Down syndrome:  are as diverse as people who do not have Down syndrome  look more like their families than each other  have a wide range of interests and abilities and talents, just like people who do not have Down syndrome  all learn best in their own way, just like people who do not have Down syndrome

 Additional number 21 chromosome, resulting in medical diagnosis Trisomy 21  This extra genetic material: ◦ Changes the development of the body and brain ◦ Results in common physical characteristics ◦ Causes delayed physical, intellectual and language development

 Low tone and flexible joints (hypotonia) ◦ People with Down syndrome generally have to be stronger to accomplish what people without Down syndrome accomplish ◦ Make dinner with socks on your hands ◦ Sitting on exercise ball ◦ By the time an adolescent with Down syndrome has gotten ready for school in the morning, they may already have exerted more focus and energy than one of their peers will in an entire day ◦ Low tone creates difficulty with speech development - muscle coordination required for verbalization

 Many people with Down syndrome have vision or hearing issues  May have challenges with tactile, vestibular and proprioceptive sensory systems ◦ Tactile – protective touch ◦ Vestibular – coordination, controls body’s relation to gravity ◦ Proprioceptive – body awareness through information sent to brain from muscles and joints

 Literal Learner – specifically teach what you want them to know  Perception may not be as acute  Storage of information may be difficult, filtering may not be automatic  May not have time to adequately store information for retrieval  Verbal memory and working memory challenges

 These differences makes it more difficult to access, understand and process information at the same speed as other students

 Many people equate memory and brain function with a filing system of nice neat folders  Individuals with Down syndrome tend to store things more like a “junk drawer”. The information they use often is easily accessible. Information that is used occasionally is there, but difficult to find. Information that is never used has been put way in the back and is almost impossible to find without “relearning”.

Children with Down syndrome:  CAN and DO learn Literacy and Math skills  “Visual” learners  More success using a multi- sensory/multimodal approach  Can learn anything you specifically teach them

 Teach in categories (helps with filing and retrieval)  Teach words that are meaningful and relevant to the child (so they will use them and keep them to the front of the “junk drawer”)  Provide opportunities to practice, transfer and generalize newly learned skills to new situations  Multi-sensory/Multi-modal approach– the more different ways you learn something the more you will really learn it, remember it and understand it

 Any time you ask a question you already know the answer to, you are testing  Teaching is imparting information  Errorless learning – use response data to determine course of action

 Teach using activities that are fun and interesting to the child  Really listen to the child - verbal, behavior and body language  The BEST learning takes place when a child is actively engaged and participating EXPECT YOUR CHILD TO LEARN!