Down syndrome is a chromosomal disorder that results in mild to severe learning disabilities and physical symptoms that include a small skull, extra folds of skin under the eyes, and a flattened nose bridge. Muscle tone throughout the body is usually low. The condition was formerly known as “mongolism” because the features of people with Down syndrome were thought to resemble those of Mongolian Asians. This term is now considered offensive and inappropriate and is no longer used.
Down syndrome occurs in about 1 out of every 800 births worldwide. In the United States each year, about 1,600 babies are born with this condition (William, 2002). Down syndrome results when a person inherits all or part of an extra copy of chromosome 21. This can occur in a variety of ways, the causes of which are unknown. The number of Down syndrome births is relatively low for 18-year-old mothers—about 1 in 2,100 births. In the later childbearing years the risk increases significantly—from 1 in 1,000 births for 30-year-old women to 1 in 100 births for 40-year-old women. (Karen, 1995)
In adolescents with Down syndrome, the normal teenage conflicts between the desire for independence and the need for security are magnified. Like other teens, they become concerned with their appearance and with peer acceptance, and they need encouragement and support to prevent feelings of inferiority and possible social withdrawal. Adolescents with Down syndrome have developmental disabilities that include mental retardation--which is usually mild to moderate--and slowed or incomplete mastery of physical coordination due to incomplete development of the brain. Among these adolescents, there's a wide range of cognitive function and a variety of possible communication disorders such as hearing loss or speech difficulties.
Adolescents with Down syndrome and their peers have a more or less similar, even parallel, social development and social activities...................
