Down Syndrome Awareness Month

October is DS Awareness month. What do you know about DS? Did you know there are 3 types? Trisomy 21 is the most common. It is where all cells have an extra set of the 21 chromosome. This is the type that Sawyer has. There is also Mosaic where some cells have an extra set of the 21st chromosome but not all. There is also Translocation. This is where the extra set of the 21st chromosome attaches to a different chromosome.

Did you know that people with Down Syndrome are more like you and me than they are different? They laugh and cry. They get angry. They get happy. They have things they are good at. They have things they are not so good at. Sawyer, for instance, is by far the most social child I have. He easily meets people. He'll ask them their name and introduce himself and others around him. Everyone at his school knows him. I know this because I'm constantly out in public and someone will say, "Hey Sawyer". They call him the "Mayor of Mountain Park" (his school). He is the most musically inclined of all my kids. Loves music and playing the drums. He is not the most athletic. This is not because he doesn't like sports because he really does. He probably understands more about sports than my other children. The problem is his body does not always work as well as his sister Ansley, who is probably the most athletic of my 4 children. Sawyer is extremely good at memorizing. (shows, songs, ABC's, numbers) He is very stubborn about displaying his talent for memorizing. He and Ansley are rivals as to who is the most stubborn.

So there is your primer for Down Syndrome. As the month goes by, I'll try to post stories about Sawyer. Maybe I'll post pictures if he cooperates. Here is one of him with his siblings. He loves them (in that brotherly annoying way) and they love him. (as only siblings can)