AIBU to think people see down syndrome as.................

[devilishmangerdanger]

an easy disability to care for?

[catgirl1976geesealaying]

I certainly don't. I don't have any experience of it but I imagine it is incredibly difficult

[pingu2209]

Do you think so? I don't think so.

[piglettsmummy]

YANBU, I have always assumed that it is just a mild genetic disorder with learning difficulties but have recently realised tht here are a lot more issues that come with it! I can understand why sometimes people see it that way though

[ImperialSantaKnickers]

I'm not sure that they do, do they? What really upsets me is that some people seem shocked that any parent could choose to have a Downs baby, as everyone seems to think it's 100% testable for and they should have had a termination.

[hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman]

I think some people have the romanticized idea that ALL children with Down's are loving and gentle and biddable at all times.

[PTA]

Why are you asking?

As a mother of a child with Down's there are some things easy and others not so, just like any other child.

Also the range of abilities in children with Down's is vast. Some children are therefore easier to care for than others.

Another point to throw into the mix is that while children may be easy to care for, as young adults and older it becomes increasingly difficult.

[TrillsCarolsOutOfTune]

Easy?

YABU, I don't think many people think that.

YANBU to think that most people aren't aware of the non-obvious implications (I'm certainly not very well versed on the technicalities) but I don't think anyone thinks it is easy.

[slartybartfast]

i have a romantic version of down syndrome children, they look so appealing and happy

[slartybartfast]

sorry romantic vision -

but am aware they can have heart problems and also autistic traits, same as other children,

[slartybartfast]

but i think it is rather a taboo subject, not one to talk easily about, up to an individual concerned

[RedHelenB]

I wouldn't say easy & like any disabilities there are degrees of severity, but I must admit that there were ones I worried more about my unborn child getting.

[ImperialBlether]

Do you have a child with Downs Syndrome, OP?

[Signet2012]

I look after several people with downs syndrome. Compared to some of the other people I look after they aren't as badly affected but are worse affected than others. Some live relatively independently others need a a lot more support and have a lot more health problems.

It's a rather generalised and romanticised view to have in my opinion.

[forevergreek]

No, but I have first hand experience. Many children/ adults with ds have heart/ vision/ hearing/ muscle/ behaviour as well as other problems. If you were to meet 10 people with ds they would all be different of course.

[CuriosityCola]

Yabu, I would never see parents of children, with disabilities, as having it easy.

[Lueji]

I don't think people think it's easy, or most wouldn't test for or abort the babies.

[MacaroniAndWalnut]

If people thought it was easy then why the tests and terminations?

[DeWe]

As far as I am aware a child with Downs Syndrome is just like any other child-some will be easy, some middling, some difficult. They're still their own personality, and should be recognised as a person, not just "a person with downs syndrome" or worse "a downs syndrome child".

[PTA]

Heart problems and autistic traits are probably the best known ones but are just the start of a very, very long list.

As a baby/toddler the developmental delay is already evident and as as they grow, the gap gets wider. DS is 6 and still in nappies. He has a very health six-years old appropraite diet, you try cleaning those poo filled nappies in a diasabled changing room that doesn't take his needs into account.

He has a language delay and I can just about hold a conversation with him, no-one else can. If he gets lost he couldn't tell anybody anything past his first name. Think on that one!

In saying all that, he is in mainstream school having done three, rather than two, years in a mainstream nursery. He is coping well but as mentioned has very poor communication skills and also very, very poor fine motor skills so he still scribbles on everything and can't colour in anything.

I could go on and on but I think you get the idea. There are many who may have it easier and certainly lots of people who have it a lot worse but easy it is not!

[MrsCampbellBlack]

Have you been listening to the archers?

[PTA]

And as for the poster who mentioned that children with Down's were easily biddable, turn that on it's head. Imagine them doing what they are told by someone who wants to abuse them or by younger children wanting a young adult with Down's to buy them alcohol.

Also my ds has a stubborn streak a mile wide. It's nothing to do with the Down's though, he gets that from me!

[bradywasmyfavouriteking]

DS is different in every case.

I don't know anyone who thinks its would be easy. I chose not to have the blood teat to check for DS because I would have had my baby anyway.

I certainly didn't think it would be easy if the baby was a child with DS. But I still wanted him.

[diddl]

What a sweeping statement!

[Alisvolatpropiis]

YABU - I don't know anyone who thinks it would be easy. Quite the opposite actually.