I’d be interested to know if there are any known cases of a person with Down syndrome who has normal mental functioning? I read that people with Down syndrome usually have a range of IQ scores between 30 and 70, with an average of about 50. I came across this video on Youtube, in which a Down syndrome woman is being interviewed: The Sam Lesante Show - Living with Down Syndrome - YouTube. She seems very smart and doesn’t appear to me to be in any way mentally impaired. She talks and comes across just like a normal person.
Have you ever known anyone with Down syndrome who is of normal (or near-normal) intelligence? Do you think the extra chromosome ALWAYS results in some level of cognitive impairment, or are there a few exceptions?
There’s a variant called mosaic Down syndrome where the extra chromosome is only in a fraction of the cells. It could be anywhere from 12.5% to 87.5% because the cells begin to differentiate at the 8-cell stage. This is also believed to be a factor when a chromosome test is wrong - that the (ab)normal cells were evenly divided between the baby and the placenta.
People with MDS usually have less severe mental disability than people with “straight” DS, and are less likely to have other issues like heart and bowel defects. I’m not aware that anyone’s been “normal”, though.
Since Trisomy 21 is so nearly universally accompanied by some degree of mental retardation, and since mental impairment is the commonest component of the various features which combine to form the syndrome, I’d be inclined to think of an individual with normal mentation and trisomy 21 as a “Trisomy 21 variant” (and probably mosaic, at that) and not a “Down Syndrome.” If you are missing a key component, it’s harder to say you have the syndrome in question. But I guess that’s a bit of a nitpick, and one completely unsupported by much of anything.
I think I’m bothered by the implication that a mental handicap should be something to be ashamed of, and therefore we’re going to emphasize the “normal” spectrum of presentation for a given set of deficiencies. What happens is that the vast majority just end up looking even more deficient against the outliers. I’m not sure garnering publicity for a high-functioning Down child does much besides setting an unrealistic expectation for the average Down kid.
Not ashamed of…they can’t help it…but it’s not exactly the best thing in the world to have KWIM? I see adults with mental disabilities and it’s BEYOND sad how limited they are. And they ARE limited…
Um no… but I do see parents of mild MR kids pretending that their kid has a severe learning disability or is higher functioning then they actually are…And the thing is… anyone with a mental disability IS pretty much a kid functionally…Why is that considered offensive? They think like and function like a kid…
So why the response? Certainly, we don’t have access to his IQ tests, but his chosen work in life indicates a pretty high IQ for his medical cohort, very possibly in the “mentally normal” range or even higher than average. Seems a valid example of what the OP was asking for. Speculative, but cromulent.
I don’t know about emphasizing or not and don’t see any implication of shame. Those with Trisomy 21 who are of normal IQ are rare. Yes outliers. IQ of 50ish is a realistic expectation but quite a bit higher and lower are both seen. Parents of Downs kids should not and do not expect kids with normal IQ and they generally do end up loving the kid they got as kids with Downs have lots of strengths and lots to love.
No they don’t. They think and function like a person with a developmental disability of some kind (or not, as the case may be). So that’s why it’s offensive: it’s rubbish, it reduces a person to something they are not.
How is that offensive? Seriously…how is that offensive to say that a person with a mild MENTAL disabilty thinks and acts like a kid?
They do…How come their functioning levels are described as being on “second grade” or 2 year old levels then?
I interact with mentally disabled adults…Many of them do think and act like a child…that’s the essense of their disability…Or is it just PC yammering along the lines of the type of parent who insists that their mildly MR kid is actually severely learning disabled?
An adult with Down’s is not a kid, no matter how mentally impaired. They are an adult. Adults have different needs than kids, no matter how impaired. An adult with a disability needs to be treated as an adult and not a child. Infantilizing adults with disabilities doesn’t help them.
There is also a considerable range in mental disabilities. It’s not an either/or situation. One can be of less than average intelligence but still fully capable of holding a job and paying the bills. Yes, some mentally impaired adults do require a non-disabled guardian of some sort but that’s by no means universal.
That aside, there has been at least one woman with Down’s Syndrome who is also a National Merit Scholar, but her name eludes me, it was several years ago. Just as there are people of normal chromosomes who have exceptional intelligence I don’t see it surprising that there are people with trisomy 21 with exceptional intelligence. Perhaps these are people who would have been some sort of extreme genius without the chromosomal disorder but due to it are now only slightly above average. Unquestionably, any high-functioning person with Down’s has benefited by intensive support and educational effort.
It should be noted that even people with Down’s Syndrome who test out as having a normal range IQ still have some pretty significant problems. It seems that Down’s doesn’t affect just raw intelligence but also to some degree social interactions. Hearing and vision problems are not uncommon, among other physical issues. Additionally, even those Down’s Syndrome people who graduate high school or even attend college would still be considered learning disabled if they didn’t have trisomy 21 but still functioned at their current level. They have to work much harder than the average student to achieve average performance.
Again, it’s offensive because they DO NOT THINK AND ACT LIKE A CHILD. They think and act like a person of what ever age they are with a what ever kind of developmental disability they have.
The fact that you think they seem like a kid only speaks to your insight, not to their ability.
Sometimes, for some specific things, they might be described as being on the level of a certain age group. So you might say “reading ability of a 6 year old”. It’s fallen into disuse because it is inaccurate, mostly.
Consider the things that developmentally go with age, to name just a few:
motor skills (dexterity, walking, different things)
reading/writing ability
maths
speech
vocabulary
social skills
sexual development
experience (of all kinds of things)
The list goes on and on. The chance that someone with a developmental disability is like a 4 year old on all counts is almost nil. Four year olds don’t have serious, respectful, sexual relationsips, but someone who writes like a four year old could. Four year olds can’t take apart a car and put it back together, but someone who writes like a four year old might. If someone supposedly writes like a 6 year old, when you look at it properly you will find it is nothing like a 6 year old. Because they have been writing that way for years, they have more experience than a 6 year old, they have a different vocabulary etc.
If you want to be respectful of the people you supposedly interact with, stop thinking of them as children. They aren’t.
Having done a bit of googling, I’ve discovered a few things. I’ve found that yes, it is possible for a person with Downs to be of normal intelligence, but it is very rare. Only about 1% of them have an IQ within or above the borderline intellectual function range of 70-80. Most are either in the mild or moderate range of learning disability, with a small minority in the severe or profound range. According to globaldownsyndrome.org, 40% are in the mild range or higher.
Obviously, an IQ score is of limited use in determining a person’s intelligence, because intelligence is such a complex thing and there are lots of different kinds of intelligence. People with Down syndrome are known as having comparatively good social and emotional intelligence, and this would not be picked up by an IQ test. Being emotionally and socially intelligent is, in my opinion, much more important than being a mathematical/scientific genius who has no understanding of social situations and is unable to feel any empathy for others. Yet, the latter person would probably score much higher on a standard IQ test than a Downs person.
I think that people with Down syndrome are capable of a lot more than we are led to believe, and it is important to treat them in a way that focuses on their abilities, not on their disabilities.
I think that people [del]with Down syndrome[/del] are capable of a lot more than we are led to believe, and it is important to treat them in a way that focuses on their abilities, not on their disabilities.
