Cheryl Fortney's listing Re: Trisomy 8 is full of MISINFORMATION !!!! about
Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome).  Please, Cheryl, this isn't a personal attack,
but as the mother of a child with Down Syndrome, I absolutely cannot let
this go unchallenged.

Children with Down Syndrome have an extra copy of the smallest of the
autosomal chromosomes (only one of the sex chromosomes, the Y, is smaller).
This means that trisomy of the 21st chromosome causes relatively MILD
physical and mental problems.  Trisomies of the X sex chromosome are also
usually mild and may go undiagnosed.  While most of what Cheryl says applies
to the rarer surviving-til-birth trisomies (Trisomy 15 and 18), it DOES NOT
APPLY to Down Syndrome.

To wit -- it is true that 40% of Down Syndrome kids have heart defects,
which are usually easily repaired.  My son had duodenal atresia, which was
easily repaired.  Tracheo-esophageal fistula is more tricky to repair, but
can be done.  Most importantly, it is most definitely worthwhile repairing
these physical defects, because the vast majority of children with Down
Syndrome end up MILDLY RETARDED or BORDERLINE NORMAL, not severly retarded
as Cheryl states.  They most certainly learn to walk and talk!!  And they
have an excellent quality of life if raised in a loving home environment,
which is true of any child.  My son Peter just turned ten years old.  He
just finished the third grade in a regular classroom at the local
elementary.  He used an adapted curriculum, and gets extra help with speech
therapy and occupational therapy for fine motor skills.  He READS on an
end-of-first-grade/beginning-of-second-grade level and can do simple
addition and subtraction.  He can quote all the dialogue from every Disney
film every produced, tells jokes, plays Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker with
his three year old brother, likes to ride horses and plays Challenger Little
League.

There are several Down Syndrome adults in our community who live
independently -- they each share an apartment with a non-handicapped
friend-- who have jobs -- one works here at the university in the
engineering department sorting mail and running errands, and the other works
in a local restaurant.  One plays the piano beautifully!  PLEASE PLEASE
PLEASE do not spread misinformation about people with Down Syndrome,
especially along the lines of not providing them with medical care because
they would just end up as vegetables!  This is simply NOT TRUE, as well as
being cruel and unfair.  I have waged this battle long and hard in many
different venues and least expected to find it resurfacing on LactNet :(
Re-reading Cheryl's message, I can only hope that she is confusing Trisomy
15 and 18 with "Trisomy 18 and 21."

I apologize for taking up so much space on a non-lactation related issue.
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Katherine A. Dettwyler                                email:
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Anthropology Department                               phone: (409) 845-5256
Texas A&M University                                    fax: (409) 845-4070
College Station, TX  77843-4352