Essay on Down Syndrome Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

On Down Syndrome - Essay Example The intellectual disability causes an individual to lag behind in his development of communication skills, social abilities and even his ability to take care of his own self in a proper manner. Teaching and support services for the individuals with intellectual disabilities is designed in a completely different manner and is targeted to meet their learning and problem solving requirements. Creative and interactive teaching ideas should be implemented in order to obtain maximum results. Visual, audio and interactive lesson methods should be applied and the difficult ideas and problems should be made comprehensive for the learners. American Association of Intellectual and Development Disabilities are directed towards support services and development support for such individuals (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints 2012). Fig 1: An image of a Down Syndrome Child accompanied by teaching services personnel (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints 2012). Down syndrome i s defined as a condition caused by a genetic defect which results in both physical and intellectual limitations in the affected individual. The normal number of chromosomes in an individual is 46 but in a Down syndrome individual the chromosome number is 47 instead (National Association for Down Syndrome 2012). It is considered as one of the most common syndromes present at birth called as congenital syndromes. One in every 700 births is estimated to be a child with Down syndrome. It has been observed that the possibility of developing Down syndrome increases as the maternal age increases at the time of conception. After the age of 35, the risk of Down syndrome in the child increase by many folds (Selikowitz 2008). The prevalence of Down syndrome in United States was estimated to be one in every 733 births by Centers of Disease Control and Prevention in the year 2010. Around 60,000 cases are diagnosed with Down syndrome annually (National Down Syndrome Society 2012). According to a study in the year 2007 carried out among 63000 babies in UAE, an approximate incidence of one Down syndrome case for every 449 new born babies was estimated. The study also highlighted the maternal age risk factor and showed that around 41 % of the UAE mothers had crossed the age of 35. This also showed that maternal age is a major etiological factor (Shaheen 2012). Fig 2: A representation of prevalence of Down Syndrome in the years 1979 – 2003 per 10,000 live births in United State (CDC.gov. 2011). Down syndrome presents in the individuals with a large range of variations in its characteristics and features. As discussed earlier, it is a chromosomal defect; hence every cell of the body’s each system is defective. Hence almost every system manifests with problems and pathologies. Around 120 different features for this syndrome have been described up till now but some children might manifest with only six or seven characteristic features. The characteristic features des cribing Down syndrome are visible in eyes, head and face. A Down syndrome individual has round face with a flat side profile, with brachycephaly (Flattened back of head). The eyes are slanted, small epicanthic folds which might give a false manifestation of squint or strabismus and the iris might show whitish spots called Brushfield spots. The neck of the young child has greater fat content at the back which is diminished with age and an adult individual will have a broader and smaller neck. Hands are shorter with usually