In 1866, a British Physician, John Langdon Down, identified the .
characteristics of the syndrome and described the condition as a distinct and .
separate entity. As a Superintendent of a children's asylum, Down referred to .
the children as Mongoloids because their facial features resembled those of .
asians. In 1960, the name was changed to Down's Syndrome and 10 years later .
in the 70's American Scientist's changed the name to Down Syndrome. One in .
every 800 to 1,000 children is born with Down Syndrome. There are over .
350,000 people in the United States alone who have Down's. .
In the 19th century most people with Down Syndrome were .
institutionalized, given sub standard nutrition, and had very little medical care. .
Due to the increase of infections that spread in the institutions, the mortality .
rate was high. Today most people with Down's will live to be approximately 55 .
years old. In the first half of the 20th century, new and more effective .
approaches to the care and education of children with Down Syndrome where .
introduced. These approaches involved comprehensive health maintenance, .
early intervention to help infants with motor, speech, and cognitive .
development, Preschool nurseries, and integrated educational services where .
students attend both special education classes and mainstream classes. .
Down Syndrome, also referred to as Trisomy 21, is a congenital .
disorder that involves an extra chromosome on the 21st pair. Everyone should .
have 46 chromosomes. 23 from the mother and 23 from the father. A person .
with Down Syndrome has an extra 21st chromosome resulting in 47 .
chromosome. It was first described as occurring due to chromosomal .
abnormalities by Warrdenburg and Bleyer in the 1930's (Leshin, 1997) and was .
first discovered to be the cause of Trisomy by a French Physician, Dr. Jerome .
Lejeune, in 1959. In the last few years the focus has been placed on the study .
