Hi & welcome, Mark!  Recently you wrote in a message to All:   
      
   MH>  I have just picked up this echo from my hub.  I   
   MH>  had seen it before, but was not totally clear on   
   MH>  the discussion until now.   
      
      
             Within the last few months we had a thread about what makes this   
   echo tick... [chuckle].  It's not easy to tell sometimes until one gets to   
   know more about the sort of people who hang out here, but I'll add an example   
   of the sort of material I think you can probably relate to.  A few days after   
   Nora's birth, when the pediatrician's diagnosis of DS had just been confirmed,   
   the gynecology resident accosted me outside our room to ask... in essence...   
   why I hadn't been weeping & wailing & gnashing my teeth.  I told him about   
   Judy, a former student of mine, and added that I'd be quite content to have a   
   daughter like her.  :-))   
      
      
      
   MH>  As some already know, my youngest son (4 years old now)   
   MH>  has Down Syndrome.  He is only mildly effected from it,   
   MH>  causing some delays.  It took him alittle longer to walk   
   MH>  (now he runs), drink from a cup, etc.   
      
      
             Uh-huh.  IIRC, kids with Down's syndrome walk independently at 3   
   yrs. of age on average... just as Nora did.  One of the common characteristics   
   of DS is that various muscle groups tend to be stronger than others.  Babies   
   who open their fists at an earlier age than usual, for example, may have   
   difficulty with tasks which require bending the elbows or the knees.    
   Eventually the muscles do sort out among themselves which must pull how hard   
   in order to balance the pull from the opposite direction, but they learn on   
   their own unique timetable.  You probably know this already.  I'm filling in a   
   bit for those who may not.  While I'm at it, BTW, the apostrophe + s after   
   "Down" is optional in Canada.  I'm not correcting anyone's spelling, just   
   using the spelling I personally prefer.  ;-)   
      
      
      
   MH>  He is doing all those things now, but his speech is still   
   MH>  developing.   
      
      
             IOW he's a typical boy in many ways although he may have reached   
   some milestones later than others of his age generally do.  One of the hot   
   topics in the EdBiz is that at K/1 level a lot of boys would rather play catch   
   with Daddy than be chained to a desk under the supervision of a female teacher   
   who expects them to learn to read.  Boys tend to achieve reading readiness   
   later than girls because their focus at this age is on developing gross motor   
   skills.  With Nora we've found that a growth spurt in one area is accompanied   
   by a plateau in some other area more often than not.  While she was learning   
   to walk she didn't make a lot of progress WRT her vocabulary... but then I   
   learn in a similar way.  :-)   
      
      
      
   MH>  He knows how to say many words and completely understands   
   MH>  just about everything you say to him.   
      
      
             I figure he probably understands more than some other adults   
   realize. When Nora was around the same age I realized I had to simplify my   
   delivery if I expected other kids (of supposedly normal or higher   
   intelligence) to understand what I was attempting to say.  I agree that both   
   speech therapy & sign language may be very helpful for kids who can't get   
   their tongues around the words.  :-)   
      
      
      
   MH>  He is also very godo at sports and has a good pitching arm.   
      
      
             There's one example of how Nora changed my life for the better.    
   When I was growing up I was always the last to be assigned to a team in PE   
   because I was such a klutz.  I remember how my classmates groaned aloud when I   
   missed the target (yet again!!) and other stuff I won't bore you with.  I   
   managed to avoid team sports as an adult until the Universal Intelligence, or   
   whatever you would prefer to call it, asked me if I was willing to parent a   
   kid with DS & I rashly agreed.  I didn't know at the time that the job   
   involved teaching PE.  But Nora doesn't seem to mind so much if I can't hit   
   the broadside of a barn... and as a result of her interest in sports I've   
   become a lot more interested myself.  :-)   
      
      
      
   MH>  He has been a real blessing and a wonderful child.   
      
      
             Yes.  A mother of two once told me she often wished her "typical"   
   son was more like the one with DS, and a mother of four told me the one with   
   DS was the light of her life.  I don't have other kids of my own to compare   
   with, just a whole bunch of students of various ages.  But otherwise I can   
   relate....  :-)   
      
      
      
      
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
    * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)