Down's Syndrome versus Autism?

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This thread is going to discuss the similarities and the differences between the two disorders since a lot of people seem to get the two mixed up, when they are hardly even a like (despite having some similarities).

Similarities:
1. Behavioral problems are commonly present in both disorder.
2. People with either disorder may have issues with making friends.
3. Learning difficulties are common in both disorders.
4. Delays in independent living skills are common in both.
5. Tantrums are a common highlight in both disorders. Tantrums are generally more severe in Down's Syndrome than they are in Autism.
6. Verbal delays are common in both. However, children with Down's Syndrome are generally not completely non-verbal like a lot of Autistic people are.
7. Delays in job skills are present in both Low Functioning Autism and in Down's Syndrome.
8. Down's Syndrome has a common link to Intellectual Disabilities. While Autism isn't always co-morbid with Down's Syndrome, it's been known for a while that it's common for Autistic folks on the more severe end of the spectrum to have an intellectual disability. However, it's been shown that some people with Autism are often misdiagnosed with Intellectual Disabilities with the fact that their verbal skills are delayed, and it's the same in Down's Syndrome sometimes.
9. Inappropriate laughing and crying spells are a common feature of both.
10. Unusual facial expressions are present in both.
11. Motor coordination deficits are a common feature in both.
12. People with either disorder may say inappropriate things at the wrong time.
13. This is unnecessary, but conditions like ADHD, Tourette's Syndrome and Depression are often co-morbid with both disorders.

Differences:
1. Down's Syndrome is a chromosomal disorder that's caused by an extra pair of the 21st Chromosome. While it's clear that Autism is a Neurological disorder, the cause has yet to found.
2. Down's Syndrome has clear physical features, while Autistic folks have no known physical features at this time.
3. Despite the fact that some people with Autism are in the intellectually disabled range, some people with it are genius's as well. In Down's Syndrome, most people are in the mild to moderate intellectual disability range.
4. Despite the fact that social problems are common in both, people with Down's Syndrome will often try to be social and often come off as being kinder since they usually can at least engage into a conversation with peers. People with Autism often try to avoid social interactions due to the fact that they might not understand how to approach people, and they often struggle with non-verbal social cues.
5. People with High Functioning Autism (this includes Asperger's Syndrome) often excel in jobs, while folks with Down's Syndrome often don't have the mentality or mental capacity to qualify for any job.
6. Intellectual obsessions are common in High Functioning Autism and in Asperger's Syndrome, while people with Down's Syndrome often remain focused on things that are easier to follow.
7. Autistic people don't lack in empathy at all, they just have issues with expressing it and will not be able to understand it through non-verbal social cues (such as facial expressions or body language) and through tone. If you specifically tell them how you feel, then they will be quite understanding. In Down's Syndrome, they can generally understand them through non-verbal social cues depending on the level of function.
8. The average life expectancy in Down's Syndrome is somewhere around fifty years, while people with Autism don't have a lower life expectancy than the average human being.
9. People with Down's Syndrome are often short in stature, while Autistic people can be at any height.
10. People with High Functioning Autism or Asperger's Syndrome often get married, have normal jobs (such as marine science, become doctors and so on), drive cars and can grow up to live independently. Very few folks with Down's Syndrome are able to do any of these things.
11. Behavioral problems are common in both, but the circumstances are different. People with Autism can generally learn from their behavioral mistakes when told, while folks with Down's Syndrome may often seem to lack the mental capacity to do so.
12. People with Down's Syndrome can often express emotions at the right time, while people with Autism often have difficulties doing so.
13. Autism by itself can cause an exceptional attention span that's better than no other, while folks with Down's Syndrome can often share the same attention span as a person who suffers from ADHD.
14. People with Down's Syndrome can often adjust to change, while Autistic people are known to have major issues in this.

Autism and mental retardation are separate conditions but sometimes found together in low functioning autism. This is why people get them mixed up.

20 years ago, when I was in the psych hospital, the psychiatrist wasn't sure what to do with me. Eventually, he decided I might have Down's Syndrome so they placed me on a unity that had just those guys. Talk about mismatch! Everything was designed as if for a 2 year old - the furniture, the classes, the exercises, the learning materials...I had to get out of there or I'd really lose my mind. I told them I might jump off the roof and they promptly placed me back with the adults. Even psychs get it wrong.

You can tell at birth if the person has Down's Syndrome. The physical features make it quite obvious (although Cerebral Palsy also has physical features) and you can now tell if a child has Down's Syndrome during pregnancy through screenings. Unfortunate however, it's not like that with Autism since you often have to wait a two to three years to find out if you have Autism. It's even worse with Asperger's Syndrome since it may never get diagnosed.

With a friend of mine, there was once Mosaic Down syndrome discussed.
This is very rare and you have just some features of Down syndrome.

I've once seen a documentary about a woman with Mosaic Down syndrome. She had a normal IQ and visual also normal, just if you knew, you could see some features. And they first found out after she got her second child with Down syndrome.

"Mosaic Down syndrome is when some of the cells in the body are normal and some cells have trisomy 21, an arrangement called a mosaic (46,XX/47,XX,+21).[6] [7] This can occur in one of two ways: A nondisjunction event during an early cell division leads to a fraction of the cells with trisomy 21; or a Down syndrome embryo undergoes nondisjunction and some of the cells in the embryo revert back to the normal chromosomal arrangement. There is considerable variability in the fraction of trisomy 21, both as a whole and tissue-by-tissue. This is the cause of 1–2% of the observed Down syndromes.[4] There is evidence that mosaic Down syndrome may produce less developmental delay, on average, than full trisomy 21.[8]"

From Wikipedia: Genetic_origins_of_Down_syndrome

Last edited by Raziel on 16 Jan 2013, 4:42 am, edited 1 time in total.

This. Emphasis on the sometimes. Not all 'low functioning' people have mental retardation. I'd also be hesitant to accept a diagnosis based on IQ testing of a non-verbal individual who hasn't found an adequate way to communicate yet, because well if you took an IQ test in Aramaic I think you'd have some troubles preforming well. o.O

Excellent description.

People get DS and autism confused? That surprises me.

Then again, when I was little, I thought one of my classmates had DS when in retrospect she's probably got CP with cognitive disability.

Anyway, did you know that DS people have a higher rate of autism? It's like 10% instead of 1%.

Yes.

I also think that's pretty interesting.
I know a boy (actually the mother) who has Down syndrome, autism and hyperlexia.

That would be a bad environment for DS too.

DS individuals, on average, have an IQ of 50, meaning they're usually functioning like a kid half their age. So unless your DS group were 4 year olds, they were being understimulated.

Most NTs, if put in a very understimulating setting at a very young age, will end up with mild to moderate cognitive delays that disappear if they are removed from that setting. (This is common in kids adopted from Eastern European orphanages.) The same is true for individuals with cognitive disabilities, but it's added onto their cognitive disability.

Understimulation also seems to have a more severe effect on DS people in particular. New research shows that DS infants show cognitive capabilities similar to same-age NT infants, but with a peculiar behavioral style where they refuse to practice already-learnt skills or try things that are really difficult. As a result, they lose already learnt skills, and then relearn them much later. They need a setting where they are pushed to achieve to their full ability. (Errorless learning techniques work well with them.) In a typical home setting, this results in mild-moderate cognitive delays despite them theoretically having potential ability higher than this. In an institutional setting, they often end up with profound cognitive delays because they get no encouragement to learn at all.

Interesting thread. Despite knowing a few people whose children have DS and (I've met one) I used to volunteer with someone who has DS, this thread has shown how little I know really know.

Another interesting fact for you:
Around 15% of children with DS have Nystagmus (one of the eye conditions I have) and some people on the spectrum (not sure how many) have Nystagmus too.

I work with both popuuations and to me there isnt any way to confuse the two. SOME downs people will show autism, u can have two or more things going on but downs, as mentioned is a chromosomal duplication of the 21st chromosome and has very specific physical and mental features with it.

WE had a discussion about downs people and college on another chat the other day and very very few even graduate high school.. I suspect those that do are mosaics,, not true full downs.. I had a girl in my class i strongly suspected was a moasic,, she was much higher functioning then the typical full downs.