World Down Syndrome Day 2023 calls for organisations to be 'With Us Not For Us’
World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD) is a global awareness day which has been officially observed by the United Nations since 2012. The date for WDSD being the 21st day of the 3rd month, was selected to signify the uniqueness of the triplication (trisomy) of the 21st chromosome which causes Down syndrome.
ASDC spoke to families with children who have Down syndrome to find out what their children like, and dislike, when it comes to science and play!
Here are some top tips, written by parents from the group Positive About Down Syndrome:
- Let them be part of experiments. children with Down syndrome are as curious and full of wonder as the children next to her (maybe even more so!!).
- Make science fun. Learning can be a side-effect, but the primary motivation for designing interactivity is to make the experience enjoyable!
- Children with Down syndrome are visual learners
- They love to move things (part of the trajectory schema), so any activities with water/sand/foam are fab.
- Don’t assume that because they are pre-verbal/non-verbal they won’t understand.
- Consequences engagement is brilliant: push button —> X happens, slide panel —> Y happens.
- Cause and effect activities are brilliant.
- Some of our children love sensory activities (they are sensory seekers), while others will avoid stimulating their senses too much.
Language is really important to people from the Down syndrome community. Rather than defining people by their disability, people-first language conveys respect by emphasising the fact that people are first and foremost that — people.
Please read and share this great resource, Language Creates Reality, written by the mum of a little boy with Down syndrome. Created and designed by Rebecca Hulbert and design studio Bear and Pear, these series of cards offer a fresh new way of sharing and using appropriate language around Down Syndrome.