wondering about down syndrome

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Autism is a subject I have come to understand pretty well.
Autism is a spectrum and I know different symptoms hit us to different degrees.

There are people here who are diagnosed with severe autism and their posts are bursting with intelligence.
I have learned a lot about autism and regardless of what part of the spectrum we are on we all have a lot in common.
We sometimes talk about NT ignorance as regards to the subject of Autism.
I know about Autism because I am on the spectrum.

I confess a total lack of knowledge about Down Syndrome however the one thing it has in common with Autism is people are born with it.

I can Google the subject but I know nothing I will find on Google will match the insight that people here have.

I've known several kids who had DS and I had a friend with it too. But that doesn't mean I know a lot about it or understand it.

I did a Google search just now.

I'm by no means an expert on the subject, but I know quite a few kids who have it, just through special ed services. I can explain how trisomy 21 occurs, but I'd imagine you can find that by google.

One thing I've found is down syndrome is really stereotyped, and I've found from the kids I've met that while they do have similarities (facial looks, lower IQ, higher rate of some health problems like heart issues, etc.), they are also very variable. They have different abilities, personalities, etc. It's definitely a spectrum of ability. I've heard/read people saying children with DS are always happy... that is not true. But I think they do tend to have a "nice" outlook on life/ have kind intentions (I'm sure not all, but many). I know a boy who has both autism and down syndrome. That's a challenge.

There's also a type of DS called "mosaic down syndrome" which I don't fully understand why, but the people with this usually have higher IQs than with typical DS.

I recommend the documentary "Monica and David". I thought it was really sweet.

It depends though. A lot of them are intelligent, despite having intellectual delays. I used to know a girl with down syndrome at my high school when I lived in Maine. Her mother was a teacher. Despite having Down Syndrome, she was pretty smart. However, she had the emotional development of about a 2 to 5 year old. It didn't take much to hurt her feelings.

I also had another friend with DS who was a boy. He was in my life skills class. He had a hard time with writing and always required help with it. What they would do is create dotted lines in written form, and he would trace them. There was no other way for him to write on his own either. A lot of times, they also have a lot of speech delays as well. They can speak, but often times it's hard to understand what they are saying though.

I'm not a pro at DS, but I've been around a few people who've had it, so I've noticed how they act and such.

Mosaic down syndrome means that only a part of the body cells has the trisonomy, so it is milder.
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