No Limitations by Angelina

No Limitations by Angelina - July 2017 Scholarship Essay

Most of adults have heard of trisomy 21 or most commonly known as “Down Syndrome”. Down Syndrome is a genetic disorder that affects the mental and physical aspects of a certain person.
The majority of people have a total of 46 chromosomes but in the case of Down Syndrome, a person will have a full or just an extra partial copy of chromosome 21 which gives them the total of 47 chromosomes.This can cause some developmental and intellectual delays later on in their life. Parents of a upcoming or newborn child will find out if their child has Down Syndrome one of two ways: a prenatal test or right after the child is born. A prenatal test uses an ultrasound or a blood test to find out if the child has trisomy 21. Parents would be able to find out if their child had trisomy 21 around 16-18 weeks of pregnancy. But the tests could give false results and they could possibly get the opposite outcome when the child is born but with the new technology that has come out and new tests available, you are able to find out around 10 weeks of pregnancy and the accuracy has improved.
Once the child is born, you immediately begin to see the physical aspects of Down Syndrome. People with Down Syndrome have a more obvious and prominent almond-shaped eyes along with more of a slope for their nose in which their nose bridge is more flatter. Their limbs may be shorter and you’ll also notice that there is a gap between their big toe and second toe. There are many more physical differences but it all depends on how serious the child may have trisomy 21.
Once they become older, you will then notice the developmental factors that trisomy 21 affects. Children with Down Syndrome learn to roll, sit up, crawl, and walk later than those without trisomy 21. Because of their low muscle tone that they have, it it harder for them to build up those muscles and use them to get around. They also have a larger tongue than most and that affects their eating ways. Their teeth won’t come in much later than other children so it is harder for them to have full control of their chewing and sucking. Once they become older and are around school age, you’ll also begin to notice their struggles with communicating clearly and learning certain skills or subjects.
There are many misconceptions when it comes to Down Syndrome. Many will think that they don’t have a good quality of life, that they cannot help in society or live a “normal” life. All of this is false. There are many stories of people with trisomy 21 that have been able to do what others that don’t have trisomy 21 have been able to do. They are able to go to school, have fun with their friends, receive many job opportunities, and in some cases, get married and live by themselves in their own homes. The reason why they are able to do things things is because we have specialists and new technology and schooling to help them as much as we can. We start early in their baby months by teaching them to communicate with sign language. Simply using these signs, they are able to communicate much easier with us. Some children with Down Syndrome have hard of hearing and may have a hard time understanding exactly what is expected. We also have started coming out with feeding therapy by teaching them at a young age to experience and try different foods and textures. We also teach them how to eat without having them choking on the food. Once they get at those toddler years of crawling and walking, we can also have them in treadmill training which is exactly what it sounds like; a mini treadmill for the children to learn how to properly walk and build up those low tone muscles.
Many education systems have built and managed special schools to help any child of any age with disabilities to learn as much as they can during their schooling years. Most children now with trisomy 21 attend regular, public schools and attend many of the same classes their peers attend with help of other students which is what I do.
At my own high school, I work with different children with different disabilities and disorders and help them learn social skills, communicative skills, and even help them be part of the community. What got me interested was my own sister, Ruby, who also has Down Syndrome. I have attended many of her doctor appointments and have been very interested in her needs and likes. I have sat in many of her feeding therapy appointments along with her treadmill training and it has interested me and surprised me on how far we have gotten to helping these people with trisomy 21. It has showed me that they really have no limitations to what they can do. The new ideas, technology, and information that has been gathered is quite astonishing. What do I intend on doing with my future? Doing exactly what I’m doing now; helping special needs children and teaching them how to communicate through sign language and art. Learning to express themselves in many other different ways just like every other individual does in this world. Thank you.