Thursday, January 5, 2012

Down Syndrome

In reading the news and other articles, I came across this blog post. It is written by a man who has a son with Down Syndrome. I know this is a group of individuals who frequently will be seen by SLP's. And this article talks about a positive trend for these individuals.
Here is the blog post, but I will also copy/paste a few highlights.
    "If you were browsing through this week’s Target ad you may have passed right over the adorable little boy in the bright orange shirt smiling at you on page 9!  And if so, I’m glad!

     This wasn’t a “Special Clothing For Special People” catalog.  There wasn’t a call out somewhere on the page proudly proclaiming that “Target’s proud to feature a model with Down syndrome in this week’s ad!”  And they didn’t even ask him to model a shirt with the phrase, “We aren't all angels” printed on the front.
     In other words, they didn’t make a big deal out of it.  I like that."
He goes on to include 5 things Target said by not saying anything. It's a good read, recommended to everyone! I hope you take the time to read the whole article.


On the National Down Syndrome Society website, they have a section on Speech & Language Therapy. It is here. This includes the language characteristics of children and adolescents with Down syndrome, speech characteristics of the same, and what a speech-language pathologist can do.  This last section includes, "A speech-language pathologist (SLP) can provide evaluation and treatment for the speech and language difficulties experienced by children and adolescents with Down syndrome. They can help develop a comprehensive treatment plan to address all of the areas in which the child may be experiencing difficulty, including receptive and expressive language, semantics (vocabulary), syntax (grammar), pragmatics (uses of language, social and conversational skills) classroom language skills, speech, oral motor planning and oral motor strengthening. SLPs can work with families and teachers to design and implement an effective, school, home and community program to help children develop effective communication skills." The article continues with which skills are necessary for school and what parents can do to help. It is a great resource for parents and SLP's alike. Bookmark this site for future use!

2 comments:

Author Joshua Hoyt said...

Great resource. It is amazing the number of resources out there.

Anonymous said...

It's a very uplifting advert. The boy you mention looks full of character, too and like he's really enjoying himself!

Thanks for the links.