What is the difference in teaching a child with Down Syndrome vs. a child with no ?

Question

learning problems? Thank you.

Answer 1

All children a different and learn at different rates wether they have Downs of not, but in gerenal It takes a little longer for a child with Downs to learn things.

I have a five year old son with Downs, and he is very smart. It takes him longer then other kids his age to learn things, but he can memorize very well. He started kindergarten this year and he knows his alphabet, can count and knows his colors. Where he struggles is in the cognitive thinking. If he is holding a square puzzle piece he knows what it is, but if you ask him to draw a square he can't. Ect.

   The other person talked about the sign with me videos, they are ok, but the signing time ones are much better. My 5 year old and his 2 year old sister love them and can both sign very well because of them.

Answer 2

my son has down syndrome and is in 4-k this year. teaching a child with down syndrome really is no different than teaching a "typical" child in many respects. children with DS do learn, but it usually is at a slower pace than "typical" kids.

what you have to remember is that each child and their abilities are very different...my son for example is non verbal at this point, meaning his communication skills are that of a child that is much younger than his age. because of this we use sign language and his teacher is proficient in it as well. (a good website to learn basic sign language is http://www.signwithme.com). while other children with DS can communicate really well....just because they are all classified with down syndrome doesn't make them the same in their abilities or delays....that is very important to remember.

if you are a teacher I would talk to the child's parents as well as their therapist's to get an idea of how to work this child into your curriculum.  

when we teach our son new things the first thing we have to have is a lot of patience and we use strict routines and a lot of repetition....some things like learning new words are done through sign language first along with reading books, and then we work on him copying what we say...the key here is to never give up. one day without help a word will be said without encouragement or a goal will be met. and it will surprise you.  kids with DS are wonderful kids and a joy to have in a classroom...some (like mine...lol) are a bit more work on the teacher's part (he is an escape artist and liked to roam the halls in the begining, but now he stays in the classroom).