DIVERSITY: STUDENTS WITH DOWN SYNDROME

Diversity Essay: Special Education focusing on Students with Down syndrome

Tracy Chapman
Bridgewater College
Word Count: 2,578

Author Note
This paper was prepared for Education 215, Section 2, taught by Dr.
Harris.

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Abstract
As a future teacher it is important to understand that not all students will be the same.
For example, I wanted to learn more about Down syndrome and how children who have
it learn in school. I interviewed two parents who have children with Down syndrome and
I also did research on the Internet and I checked out some books about Down
syndrome. My researched showed me what Down syndrome is and how children with
Down syndrome learn. Some of my information about learning and Special Education
came from my interviews with parents. A keep point to teaching a child with Down
syndrome is understanding how they learn and then make the lessons fit that so they
will be able to understand the concept without feeling overwhelmed. Patience is another
key that I learned while doing this research. With teaching any child you need not have
patience but with working with students with Down syndrome you may need extra
patience so they will be able to remain calm with learning.

Word Count: 170

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Education 215, Diversity in the classroom has taught me a lot about different
types of diversity that I might come into contact with as a teacher. The topic that I found
particularly interesting was the chapter on Exceptionality. This chapter explained about
students who have physical disabilities, learning disabilities, as well as students who are
gifted and/or talented. Within this broad topic, I chose to look into the world of Special
Education focusing on children who have Down syndrome. I chose this topic because
there is a student in the high school that I graduated from that has Down syndrome. Ive
always been interested in learning more about what Down syndrome is and how people
who have it learn and act. As a future teacher, I felt that it is important to know about this
particular disability because I may have a student with Down syndrome in my classroom
and if I have some understanding, it will be easier for me to help that child in my class.
Learning about Down syndrome will help me with understanding multicultural
education because this is a part of diversity that may be in my future classroom. It will
help me to use equality for all my students no matter how diverse they are. With a
diverse class, we can all teach each other something new about ourselves that the
class may not have known before. Social justice is also a big part of my future
multicultural education because I will be able to give more assistance to my students
who need it. In this case, it could be a student with Down syndrome. As a future teacher,
I will also need to be a culturally responsive teacher. To do this, I will need to be aware
of my students cultural backgrounds as well as any disabilities or gifts that they may
have. As a culturally responsive teacher, I will be responsible for improving the personal
development of all my students and help them to learn socio-civic skills so one day they
can be active members in a multicultural society.

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Down syndrome is the most common genetic condition. The National Down
Syndrome Society (ndss) describes Down syndrome as, the nucleus of each cell
contains 23 pairs of chromosomes, half of which are inherited from each parent. Down
syndrome occurs when an individual has a full or partial extra copy of chromosome 21
(ndds). I learned this as the third replica of chromosome 21. John Langdon Down, an
English physician, is considered the father of the syndrome in 1866. Jrme Lejeune
identified that Down syndrome was a chromosomal disease. This means that in
individuals who have Down syndrome, they have 47 chromosomes instead of 46 like in
individuals who dont have Down syndrome.
People who have Down syndrome may have some of these physical
characteristics. They include, low muscle tone, small stature, an upward slant to the
eyes, and a single deep crease across the center of the palm. According to ndss,
each person with Down syndrome is a unique individual and may possess these
characteristics to different degrees, or not at all (ndds). Other characteristics that I
found interesting are that a child with Down syndromes head is a bit smaller compared
to normal children. Their fingers and toes tend to me short and stubby and between
there is a gap between their big toe and the other toes.
In A Parents Guide to Down Syndrome, they gave a list of goals that parents of
children with Down syndrome should be able to do as adults.
They included, To be able to interact effectively with persons who do not
have disabilities as well as though who have handicaps. To be able to
work in the same environment as those without disabilities, and To be

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welcomed and to participate with comfort and confidence at facilities and

activities frequented by those without handicaps (Pueschel, p.180).
The skills that I would be helping an elementary school student achieve include, selfhelp skills, motor skills, and academic skills. Some of the self-help skills and motor skills
will be taught at home depending on how developmentally delayed the individual is.
Some individuals need physical therapy to help with their motor skills. With academic
skills, a teacher comes in to help the individual. An Individual Education Program (IEP)
is set up for the student. Most of the time as long as a student is making progress then
their IEP will be written for them to be in an inclusive setting. This means that the goals
need to be appropriate for the general education classroom. The Down Syndrome
Association of West Michigan gave some good conditions for successful inclusion of a
student with Down syndrome.
Some of them are, View special education as a collection of supports and
services, rather than a place; Remove barriers that are created by dual
systems (general and special education) and provide access to the
resources and expertise of both and Have high expectations of all
students (Down Syndrome Association of West Michigan).
As a future teacher these are important things to keep in mind because they will
help me to be prepared if I have a student with Down syndrome in my general education
classroom full time. The last tip of having high expectations for all students is very
important because I want to make each child feel like an equal and if I have the same
expectations for each of them then there should not be a student who feels that I am

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favoring one student over another. The key is to have high expectations but not so high
that the student cant reach it.
This leads into how students with Down syndrome learn and process information.
According to the article, Addition and subtraction by students with Down syndrome, In
general, people with Down syndrome receive, process and organize information slowly
and with difficulty (Herrera, 2010). Some of their struggles tend to come when they
have to apply learned knowledge and generalizations to other situations. With learning
math, children with Down syndrome may make some of these mistakes, like confusing
the numbers six (6) and nine (9). Another mistake that is common is changing the place
order of numbers; for example, the number twelve (12) and mistaking it for the number
twenty one (21). The other common mistake made is when they are supposed to
subtract and they add instead. Within reading this article, I learned that math is a harder
concept for students with Down syndrome to pick up on because it takes lots of
retention of facts and formulas. It is also challenging because they have trouble
remembering several instructions that are given in order and need to be repeated in that
order. In math after you learn basic addition and subtraction, there comes more steps
with harder problems. For example, in addition when you are adding two digit numbers
you may have to carry a number from the ones column to the tens column and in
subtraction you may have to regroup from the tens column so you can subtract the
numbers in the ones column.
As a future teacher, understanding what problems may occur when teaching a
student with Down syndrome is very important because I can be prepared with some

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strategies to help the student understand the concept. Some techniques that Herrera
suggests include, using physical models so the student can see them. An example of
this would be a number line or counting blocks. Having these physical models will help
the student see the problem better than if two numbers were written on a paper.
Research has shown that children with Down syndrome are better visual learners than
auditory learners. Knowing this I can already have some ideas of supplies that I would
need in order to accommodate that student. With younger students, some of these
accommodations will be the same. For example, when I am teaching how to add for the
first time, I will give my students a number line as well as counting blocks. As time goes
on and they understand the concept then the number line and counting blocks may not
be necessary for the other students but if I see that it is helping the student with Down
syndrome then I will continue to let him or her use the number line or counting blocks.
This will help influence my multicultural education because I will be providing equality
for all of my students to make sure that they are learning the concepts. I am also using
social justice because I am allowing the child who needs extra help to continue to use
the number line that is helping him or her understand and learn the concept.
As a future teacher, I wanted to understand a little about what its like to have a
child with Down syndrome. To do this I set up two interviews with mothers who have a
child with Down syndrome. I know both of these children but I wanted to get a better
idea of what it is like to be with them all the time. While talking with one of my former
teachers who has a son with Down syndrome, I learned a lot about what its like for him
in school and how he learns. LL is a seventeen year old sophomore. He is pretty much
like any other teenager that attends school but he has Down syndrome. His mother told

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me that he is a visual learner and when he is listening to someone talk he tends to focus
on the end of the sentence instead of the beginning and will sometimes miss a certain
part of the instruction. This is caused by a longer processing time. He does very well if
he has a structured list that is written for him to see. For example, if a list is written big
on a dry erase board, he will comprehend what he needs to do better than if it is written
on a piece of paper in smaller print.
Within the school system, LL is like any other student. He attends Biology and
World History with the other students in his grade, but he also has alternative classes
that he attends. These alternative classes help him with life study and work skills. His
mother said, One of his alternative classes is going to the library. He will check books
in and out and also shelves the books. The library aid made him a huge alphabet that
he will lay on top of the shelf. Then he puts the books by the letter they go with before
putting them on the shelf (Leech 2013). Other skill classes he has done included
cooking, washing the athletic towels and practice jerseys, and reading stories to the
Preschool class. LL has an IEP that has him do alternative classes and have modified
tests. He mom told me that the special education teacher writes his tests. They usually
consist of multiple choice but they have no more than three choices. She said, He only
has three choices because he will sometimes get in the habit of doing patterns and say
that if number one is A then he will assume that every other one is A (Leech 2013).
Another part of his IEP is Speech Therapy. In therapy they work on forming letters
correctly and annunciation of words. Speech helps him with his reading and
comprehension. The speech therapist works with him on reading a Magic Treehouse
books. This helps him to get into reading some small chapter books and help with his

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comprehension since it is a series. It helps him to remember one adventure to another

(Leech 2013). One thing that surprised me about LL is when his mom said that he loves
technology. He has his own iPod touch which he plays music on. When he knows they
will be going on a long trip he will record TV shows on his iPod to watch while in the car.
She told me that he learned to do that on his own. He also loves taking pictures with his
moms iPad.
I was also able to talk to another mother whose son has Down syndrome. TH is
three years old and attends preschool three times a week. On the three days he goes,
he is there for half a day. Since he is so much younger, there is a difference in the way
he communicates and learns. During his time at school, he has Speech and Physical
Therapy. He will go to music and other specials with his class. He really enjoys
hearing the music (Hotz 2013). She told me that he will interact some with the other
children but he prefers to watch the other children. He knows his shapes and colors
and he likes to be active (Hotz 2013). He is not as verbal but will use some sign
language. His mom said that it should come with time and works with the Speech
Therapist at school. TH knows that when he goes in the classroom in the morning, to
go back to the carpet to his spot (Hotz 2013). This showed me that he is learning and
comprehending some instructions. As he goes through school he will pick up on more
skills. His mom said that a lot of his cognition is the fact that he is only three years old
and normal three year olds arent too far ahead of where TH is now.
As I reflect back to the research Ive done for this paper Ive learned a lot about
Down syndrome in general and Ive also learned a lot about people who have Down

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syndrome and how they attend school and part take in society. This has helped prepare
me to be the best teacher I can be, to meet the needs of all students, specifically those
who have Down syndrome. Learning about Down syndrome and who students who
have it achieve goals in school has helped me to develop my since multicultural
education because, this disability is one that makes up the cultural diversity of students.
Understanding this particular part of diversity will help me to understand a student with
Down syndrome and do my best to help that child and his or her family to get the best
and equal education.
This research has given me any different examples of how it will impact my future
teaching. One example is using different tools to help the student learn for example, in
math use counting blocks or a number line. Another example that I picked up from
talking with one of the parents was to keep the child involved. This will help them to feel
like other children and also keeping the active helps them to have a good attitude. MLs
son keeps active by working with animals on the farm. He is an active member in 4-H
where he shows sheep and steers. He loves working the animals to get them ready to
show. The final thing I learned that will help me as a future teacher is to be there for my
students, whether they have a disability or not. My future students will look up to me for
advice and guidance and I need to be that positive role model that they love coming to
see each day. This research has helped me to become a better-rounded teacher by
being aware of differences my future students may have.
References
Down Syndrome Association of West Michigan. (2010). Supporting the student with

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down syndrome in your classroom. Grand Rapids, MI.

Hotz, M. (2013, December 1). Personal Interview.
Kumin, L. Ph.D., CCC-SLP (1994) Communication skills in children with down
syndrome: a guide for parents. Bethesda, MD: Woodbine House.
Leech, M. (2013, November 30). Personal Interview
National Down Syndrome Society. (n.d.) What is down syndrome? Retrieved November
30, 2013, from http://www.ndss.org/Down-Syndrome/What-Is-Down-Syndrome/
Noda Herrera, A., Bruno, A., Gonzalez, C., Moreno, L., & Sanabria, H. (2011). Addition
and subtraction by students with Down syndrome. International Journal Of
Mathematical Education In Science & Technology, 42(1), 13-35.
doi:10.1080/0020739X.2010.500698
Pueschel, S. M, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H. (1990) A parents guide to down syndrome: toward
a brighter future. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brooks Publishing Co.