The song didn't just capture the hearts of her parents but of people all over the world as well.
After difficulties conceiving and a failed round of IVF, Jessica Egan and her husband had been all over the place when they learned they were pregnant. However, 11 weeks into their parenting journey, a blood test revealed that the little girl growing inside Jessica was positive for Trisomy 21. Down syndrome.
Marfan syndrome in babies is a genetic disorder affecting the connective tissue in the body. This post tells you about its causes, symptoms, and management.
Most of the emails I receive from readers relate to specific posts I've written, or are inquiries into treatments that Sarah Kate has received. Others,
Introducing the unisex ‘Tri Some O Me' tee for Down's syndrome and Trisomy awareness. Huge closing down sale. RRP £22, now £5 in our clearance sale! Colour: Black Fabric: 100% Stretchy Cotton
Los animales herbívoros se alimentan de materia vegetal. ➨➨ Entra y descubre todo sobre ellos. Ejemplos de animales herbívoros e Imágenes.
Aspies are an interesting bunch. Lots to learn from them. If you are not familiar with Asperger's syndrome, this infographic will help you understand.
Some ideas to help your child with their writing skills.
Heartbreaking Photos Honouring Newborn With Down's Syndrome And Inoperable Brain Tumour
Such a great dad.
Asperger's syndrome in babies is a developmental disorder. Knowing the early signs and symptoms of Asperger's syndrome in babies is critical.
Who did we miss?
Amber Rojas says she knew something was different about her daughter, Ami, from the moment the little girl was born
Follow my blog with Bloglovin
Occupational Therapy for Down Syndrome Diagnosis, treatment, early intervenrtion, fine motor/gross motor activities, sensory processing
Now that we have been opened to the world of Down syndrome, we get to celebrate in the best way possible - by spreading love & awareness for those with an extra 21st chromosome! Keep reading for some of our favorite facts about Down syndrome.
Managing behaviors as a parent of a special needs child is super tough! While there is no easy fix there are things you can do to make it easier for you and your child. I like to call them behavior hacks. Here are 15 of my best behavior hacks!
I think it’s really hard to talk about and explain down syndrome sometimes, and books can be really good tools in helping your child’s peers, as well as family and friends better understand down syndrome. If you want to educate your child’s school, bringing in some of these books can also be really great for Read more...
Down syndrome is a condition in which a person has an extra chromosome
When you research Down syndrome online, you will come across several images that will catch your eye. They all have the same format: a sketch of a baby with Down syndrome surrounded by manifestations of Down syndrome. The format is not the only thing these images have in common. They all contain at
Down Syndrome daycare, a scary combination for any parent but here is one mom's sage advice for getting through it and finding a good place.
The ultimate guide to potty training and Down syndrome. Learn to anticipate and overcome common challenges, plus answers to all the questions you have.
Discover helpful Down syndrome resources and support groups to understand the potential challenges and triumphs of raising a child with DS.
Today, I saw a baby with Trisomy 18, otherwise known as Edwards Syndrome. As the name implies, it occurs when a baby has three copies of the 18th chromosome, instead of the usual 2. As with most chromosomal abnormalities, it's a particularly tragic disease. It usually causes a large number of problems, including serious kidney and heart defects, and multiple dysmorphic features such as rocker bottom feet, a short sternum, and micrognathia. The babies often die before 3 months of age and almost always die before 1 year old. Unfortunately, the baby that I saw to day is extremely sick and will most likely fall into the first category. He is probably the smallest baby currently in the NICU, and makes absolutely no respiratory effort. It's hard not to feel bad for the parents, who will probably be making a very difficult decision shortly. Seeing conditions like this really help to learn the disease. It's one thing to read about a rare disease in a pathology book. But, it's entirely different to actually see someone with the disease in front of you. It associates a person with the disease, and makes you really want to go learn about it. In the future, I will be remembering a person, when I think of Edwards syndrome, instead of just trying to remember facts from a text book. The same is true of the many other childhood diseases I've dealt with in the last few weeks. Although peds is not my favorite rotation, I really do enjoy clinicals! It's easy to forget why you want to be a doctor in basic sciences, but clinicals brings it all back!
"More to Me" showcases powerful portraits of 51 adults and kids with Down syndrome — celebrating their personalities, emotions, and abilities.
"The happiest moment of my life turned to the darkest... It was as if a tornado hit that room and I was in the eye of it as her life was torn apart around me. I had done this. It was my fault."
I love sharing what I've learned (and am still learning) about homeschooling, especially homeschooling a special needs child. I am a huge advocate for homeschooling children with special needs. I truly believe that a parent's love for their child will guide them to find the best possible curriculum to meet their child's needs. I'll do anything to help Joe succeed. Research reading programs - ✔ Find musical DVDs to help him learn math facts, states, etc. - ✔ Sit with him for endless hours in the bathroom while working on potty training. - ✔ Teach him how to butter his own bread. - ✔ You'd do these for any of your kids right? The difference when dealing with a special needs child is that often times the first thing tried doesn't work. Or the second. Or the third. Usually around the 4th or 5th try is when I finally find something that works. I hope my trial and error process provides you with more insight to help you know where to start. For any homeschooling parent, especially if you are starting from the beginning, teaching your child to read is the skill that requires the most of your time. Over the years I've used many different reading programs. I've purchased ready to go curriculum. I've printed and printed and printed phonics worksheets and mini books. I've spent my Dollar Tree budget on workbooks worth exactly what I paid. I've bought my share of early readers. Oh, how I despise most early readers. Some have worked, others not so much. I'll share two of my favorite series later in this post. Here's what I'm using to teach Joseph (with Down syndrome) to read today. I say today, because I do change things up a bit through the school year depending on what's working and whether I find something new I'd like to try. However, I have no plans on changing because the following two reading tactics are working quite well for us. #1 All About Reading Level 1 This is the phonics component to Joe's reading program. It's really the spine, the meat, the backbone to how I'm teaching Joe to read. Phonics play an important part in reading, even for kiddos with special needs. I've read in numerous places how kids with Down syndrome can only learn to read through sight reading. That's false and short sighted because really, are you going to make flashcards for every word in the dictionary? Because that's what sight reading means - memorizing and learning to recognize words immediately. Phonics is a tool for readers. A tool to help them sound out a word using very specific rules relating to letter combinations. And I love All About Reading! It takes you through step by step using a sequence that makes sense. Each step is scripted, which at first (if you haven't used a scripted curriculum) feels fake and slow. But once you pick up on the flow and script style, it's really easy to be natural and still follow the script. Now that I'm very comfortable with All About Reading Level 1, I put my own spin on it. Here's how: Letter sounds come easy to Joe, but the blending of letters together to read a word is a slow process. He definitely gets the process. It's just his lips don't always want to move into the letter sound shapes quickly. Say the word fun. Look at yourself in the mirror as you say it slowly. Your lips have to make 3 different shapes. Then in order to say the word fast you have to be able to move your lips and tongue quickly. That's where people with Down syndrome often struggle. The brain power is there! The necessary facial control is sometimes difficult. All About Reading lessons include a section called Fluency Practice. It's usually 1-3 pages of words, phrases, and sentences for your child to read to increase their reading speed. Speed is important for reading comprehension. As we've progressed through the lessons the Fluency pages are our least favorite part because they take a long, loooong, looooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnng time to get through. Like Lesson 10 took over a month. Looking at a whole page of sentences was overwhelming even if I covered up everything except what he was reading. He just knew it was never ending. So I grabbed a yellow legal pad, turned it sideways and started writing out the sentences word by word for Joe to read, and we haven't turned back. It's working just as I had hoped. The key to this style of fluency practice is to write one word at a time. The 2nd key is to adjust the sentences so there's lots of repetition. See my samples below. In the first example the sentences are the same length; I just changed up a word or two in each sentence. Reading the same words over and over again helps with instant recognition. Lesson 10 Sentences Lesson 12 Sentences - definitely harder than lesson 10. Once the full sentence is written I let Joe read it again pointing on his own. Then a smiley face and I start writing the next sentence having him read each word as I write it. Once the page is full, we're done for the day. ----------------------------------Edited 4-13-18------------------------------------ Since this blog post I started a YouTube channel. For a look at All About Reading Level 1 and how I customize it to make it work best for Joseph check out the video. #2 Like I said earlier, I've bought my fair share of early readers. We've stuffed our library bag, too. I'm hard to please when it comes to those early readers. Some readers have advanced words. We checked out one Level Pre-Primer from the library with the words tornado and lightning. Clearly, those are not pre-primer words. Some are simply stupid. Thankfully, I ran across Margaret Hillert's "Beginning to Read" books. Most of the books are familiar stories, simplified to only include words off the Dolch word list. The Dolch word list includes 220 of the most often used words in books, textbooks, newspapers, etc. Hillert's books are repetitive throughout and list the words used in the back of the book. Her simplest books use just over 30 different words. Original copyright hardcovers New updated versions. These include excellent additional literacy activities. The rhyming activity is really helping Joe with his rhyming. Books we've read according to number of words 34 - The Three Little Pigs 36 - The Three Goats 43 - The Yellow Boat 44 - Cinderella at the Ball 45 - The Three Bears 49 - A House For Little Red 58 - The Purple Pussycat 61 - Four Good Friends 61 - Dear Dragon Goes to the Library 67 - It's St. Patrick's Day, Dear Dragon 69 - Little Red Riding Hood 72 - Pinocchio This is just a handful of her books. Amazon has many, many more, but they are pricey. Buying used is probably a good option. Here's another option for purchasing used copies. Here's how we use the Beginning to Read books. Day 1. I read aloud the story a couple of times during Morning Time or whenever time permits. Day 2. I read the title, then have Joe read the title from the title page. I read the first few pages, then have him read a sentence or two. I read a few more pages, then have him read a sentence or two. This continues till the end. Day 3. I point, he reads. If he gets stuck on a non-phonetic word (true sight word) I simply tell him the word and he keeps reading. If he gets stuck on a phonetic word, I have him sound it out and go on. Day 4. Repeat of Day 3. Day 5. I quiz him on the words using homemade flashcards. I write each word on a card, then set out 12 in front of him. I say a word, he finds it and holds it. Each time he finds a word, I replace it with another card so there are always 12 cards in front of him. Once all cards have been picked up he gets a reward, usually a hug, high 5 or animal cracker. Day 6. Same as Day 5, except I put out 16-20 cards at a time. Day 7. Joe holds the pile, reads a card, then hands it to me. Once I have all the cards (which I've done nothing to earn them) he congratulates me. He's so funny. Writing out the flashcards doesn't take much time because the words are used in multiple stories so I just reuse them over and over. He also reads the book to himself during afternoon quiet time. At this time, I don't correct him if I hear a wrong word. I let him read it any way he chooses as long as he's reading quietly. I want him to simply enjoy books. Thanks for reading; that was a lot of information. Do you have other questions about teaching reading to beginners? I'd love to help. Please leave a comment here at the blog or at the Camp Homeschool Facebook page. Linking up with
In countries like the US and UK, people with Down syndrome are gaining more visibility year by year. In Iceland, however, they've almost completely disappeared. A recent CBS News probe has revealed why only 2 Icelandic children are born with Down syndrome each year on average, and their findings have sparked a fierce ethics debate online.
