Learning and Down Syndrome - Part One

We made the decision to homeschool not long after Miss R was born. Her birth and the diagnosis of Down syndrome (Ds) cemented our decision to homeschool both girls. During that first year, I read everything I could get my hands on about homeschooling.

Early on, much of what I learned about homeschooling and Down syndrome I learned the hard way -- by working with Miss R. Initially, I had no internet access and, therefore, no access to how children with Ds learn or even others homeschooling children with Ds. Professionals were not really helpful because they had little specific knowledge about learning and children with Ds. They tended to work with her based on isolated diagnoses i.e. PT - hypotonia, ST - delayed speech vs. looking at the big picture and what Ds means to the whole child. We couldn't blame them though - it takes a LONG time for research to trickle down to those working in the field.

During those early years, I made lots of mistakes. In fact, with Miss R, I had to unlearn much of what I knew about homeschooling and learn with her, about her & her unique needs.

When I finally got internet access a whole new world was opened for me. Hubby worked long, hard hours when the girls were younger. I used the hours he was working after the girls were in bed for the night to research. Little by little, I amassed a great deal of information which made a dramatic difference in our homeschool. I now have a room (seriously) filled with research into how children with Ds learn along with my regular homeschooling stuff!

I've come to the conclusion after all these years that targeted intervention (specific to the special needs of learners with Ds) is where the future lies in education and Down syndrome and successful learning experiences for our children in our homes. Research shows it to be very promising and hopefully as awareness grows targeted intervention will increase in our early intervention programs and the public school system.

Targeted intervention is basically teaching to the child’s learning style – a hallmark of homeschooling. In the case of children with Ds, this takes on greater significance. Typically developing children most often will learn using a variety of methods. They may be primarily visual learners, primarily auditory learners or primarily kinesthetic learners but can adapt to a variety of methods. Children with Down syndrome learn differently. Methods used for typically developing children often slow progress in learning and decrease our children successful learning experiences.

A good example of targeted intervention is found in a book most parents of children with Ds have, Teaching Reading to Children with Down Syndrome, by Patricia Oelwein. Her method of teaching children with Ds to read (matching, selecting, naming) targets their specific learning profile (visual learners) and utilizes errorless learning...and our children find success!

A learning profile is basically a list of strengths and weaknesses developed from a set of observable behavioral traits called a phenotype. Children with Ds have a specific learning profile different from typically developing children and children with other forms of intellectual disability.

The awareness of this profile and incorporating it into our daily lives drastically improved our successful learning experiences.

Coming soon, the profile, errorless learning, motivation and Ds, and some of my teaching tips! As the days go by, I will be adding some curriculum choices that tend to work for children with Ds to the sidebar on the right.

Learning and Down Syndrome Part Two and Part Three