AH> Hi & welcome, Mark!  Recently you wrote in a message to All:   
      
   Thanks!! Happy to be here..   
      
   AH> days after Nora's birth, when the pediatrician's diagnosis of DS had just   
   AH> been confirmed, the gynecology resident accosted me outside our room to   
   AH> ask... in essence... why I hadn't been weeping & wailing & gnashing my   
   AH> teeth.  I told him about Judy, a former student of mine, and added that   
   AH> I'd   
   AH> be quite content to have a daughter like her.  :-))   
      
   We had a similar situation.  After they first told us that our son had DS,   
   they sent in a "counsler" to talk to us and make sure we were "ok".  I   
   couldn't believe they did such a thing and sent the person out of the room.    
   They treat it like some horrible disease - which is far from the truth.  We   
   are happy with whatever we were given.   
      
   AH>           Uh-huh.  IIRC, kids with Down's syndrome walk independently at   
   AH> 3   
   AH> yrs. of age on average... just as Nora did.  One of the common   
   AH> characteristics of DS is that various muscle groups tend to be stronger   
   AH> than   
      
   Our son used to "skoot" on his butt very fast on the floor.  He never crawled.   
   He went from skooting to walking and then to running.  :)      
   There is one very unique thing with our son.  I have heard most children with   
   DS have a large straight line on the palm of their hands.     
      
   Our son has a straight line on one of his hands, but not the other.  I'm not   
   sure why or what that could mean, if anything.   
      
   AH>           IOW he's a typical boy in many ways although he may have   
   AH> reached   
   AH> some milestones later than others of his age generally do.  One of the   
      
   Exactly.  It isn't that they "can't" do something.  It can be delayed and can   
   take longer to reach the same milestones.   
      
   AH>           I figure he probably understands more than some other adults   
   AH> realize. When Nora was around the same age I realized I had to simplify   
   AH> my   
   AH> delivery if I expected other kids (of supposedly normal or higher   
   AH> intelligence) to understand what I was attempting to say.  I agree that   
   AH> both   
   AH> speech therapy & sign language may be very helpful for kids who can't get   
   AH> their tongues around the words.  :-)   
      
   He understand most everything.  His big problem is trying to express himself   
   in words.  He is getting it though, just taking a bit.   
      
   AH>           Yes.  A mother of two once told me she often wished her   
   AH> "typical"   
   AH> son was more like the one with DS, and a mother of four told me the one   
   AH> with   
   AH> DS was the light of her life.  I don't have other kids of my own to   
   AH> compare   
   AH> with, just a whole bunch of students of various ages.  But otherwise I   
   AH> can   
   AH> relate....  :-)   
      
   We have a total of 6 kids.  Only one between the two of us (being our son).   
   Everyone is unique and special in their own way..   
      
   - Mark   
      
   --- WWIVToss v.1.50    
    * Origin:  http://www.weather-station.org * Bel Air, MD -USA (1:261/1304.0)