Down Syndrome Awareness Month

October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month!

Down syndrome may not be an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), but it is a learning disorder, just like autism. Those with Down syndrome often have problems with delayed development, behavior problems, speech and language developing slower, and speech being difficult to understand. It occurs in about one out if seven hundred newborns.

Birth defects and severe medical conditions are often seen in those with Down syndrome. Half of the children with this disorder have a heart defect. Fifteen percent of people have hypothyroidism, which is when the thyroid produces less thyroid hormones than normal. This lowers a person's metabolism, which increases their chances of gaining weight and becoming obese. Leukemia is not as common, but is seen in children with Down syndrome. This is a cancer of white blood cells (leukocytes) in the blood.

Click the following to read the entire article: http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/down-syndrome.

"NDSS founded the Buddy Walk in 1995 to spread out mission of promoting the value, acceptance and inclusion of people with Down syndrome at the local level. The national program has grown from 17 Walks in 1995 to over 250 Buddly Walks expeted this year. Last year, over 285,000 people participated in a Buddy Walk and $11 million was raised to support both local and national programs. Most Buddy Walks take place in and around October in celebration of Down Syndrome Awareness Month."

Click the following link to learn more about the Buddy Walk program: http://www.ndss.org/Buddy-Walk/.