20 The risk is about 1 in 2000 at 20 years old and 1 in 45 at 45 years old. However,
since the number of babies who are born from younger mother is higher than the number born from older mother, most of babies with Down syndrome are born by
mothers under 35 years old para. 9.
b. Characteristics of Down Syndrome
A child with Down syndrome can be identified first from the physical characteristics. According to National Down Syndrome Society, there are some
physical characteristics of Down syndrome. The most common characteristics are, oblique palpebral fissure an upward slant to the eyes, epicanthal folds small
skin folds on the inner corner of the eyes, a flat facial profile a flat nasal bridge and small nose, and dysplastic ear abnormal shape of the ear. The other
characteristics are muscle hypotonia low muscle tone, excessive space between first and second toe, and large tongue in relation to size of mouth “Down
Syndrome”, n.d.. As cited from the website of National Institutes of Health, Shriver says
that those physical characteristics are a flat facial profile, an upward slant to the eye, white spots on the iris of the eye Brushfield spots, a short neck, and a single
palmar fold. Shriver also adds that a baby with Down syndrome may have a reduced muscle tone and a protruding tongue which cause on taking longer to feed
the baby. As Shriver says, hypotonia can affect the muscles of the digestive system and causes constipation ‘Facts about Down Syndrome”, 2008.
Buckley 2000 conveys other characteristics of Down syndrome. They are placid, cuddly, and musical. They also have the characteristics of being
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21 confident, being extrovert, enjoying lively social lives and loving sport. Some are
quieter, shy and prefer quiet pastimes with a few close friends para. 4-5. However, individuals with Down syndrome do not have all those characteristics.
The possible of having those characteristics may vary.
c. Development of A Child with Down Syndrome
Development of a child with Down syndrome can be summed up into physical, medical and cognitive development. Shriver states that a child with
Down syndrome will also have much longer physical development. Shehe may be low at doing basic activities such as, sitting, standing, walking, or turning
around because of the lack of muscle tone power “Facts about Down Syndrome”, 2008. A child with Down syndrome might have the following health problems.
Those are heart defects, respiratory problem, hearing problems, obstructive digestive tracts, sleep apnea, and leukemia. It increases as shehe is growing to be
adult to have a risk for Alzheimer’s disease. A child with Down syndrome will get cognitive delay and does not indicate that heshe may have strengths and talents as
each individual has. A child with Down syndrome has speech delay, speech error heshe finds difficulties in arranging sentences to speak, and lack of
understanding speech “Down Syndrome”, n.d.. Although children with Down syndrome have a tendency not to survive in
their surroundings, they still are able to learn to sit, walk, talk, play and do other activities. They may have some difficulties to develop, but it does not mean that
they are delayed in all aspects of live. As Buckley 2000 says, children with Down syndrome may be delayed in spoken language development, but they are
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22 visual learners who prefer learning through pictures or reading information to
learning through spoken information para. 13-14. The website of National Down Syndrome Society adds that a child with Down syndrome have high response to
