- Actor Jamie Foxx lives with his half-sister, Diondra, who has Down syndrome.
While accepting the Best Actor Oscar for his performance in Ray, he thanked his sister, calling her "four feet, eleven inches of nothing but pure love."
- In Count Us In, a book written by Jason Kingsley and Mitchell Levitz,
the two authors (both of whom have Down syndrome) disagree while discussing the 1992 Presidential election. Jason voted for Bill Clinton, while Mitchell voted for George Bush, Sr.
- On Yahoo, there is a group called "Down Syndrome Languages"
for parents of multi-lingual families who are teaching their children with Down syndrome a second (or even third!) language. The group was started by a woman whose six-year-old with Down syndrome knows Swedish, English, and a little bit of Czech.
- Actors who have Down syndrome
have had featured roles on a variety of popular TV shows, including ER, Law & Order SVU, CSI, The Guardian, andNip/Tuck.
- Famous parents of children with Down syndrome include:
entertainers Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, country singer Joe Diffie, and actor John C. McGinley, who plays Dr. Perry Cox on NBC's Scrubs.
- People with Down syndrome are NOT asexual.
They experience the same range of sexual feelings as the general population.
- Throughout the 1950's, doctors who delivered babies with Down syndrome
told parents to put them in an institution as soon as possible. Many continued to give that same advice well into the 1970's.
- Most people who have Down syndrome are NOT severely retarded.
Rather, they fall within the mild to moderate range. This means they are fully capable of being educated, having meaningful relationships, and leading full and active lives.
- Down syndrome affects over 350,000 families in the U.S. and several million worldwide.
Each year approximately 5,000 children are born with Down syndrome.
- October is National Down Syndrome Awareness Month.
- People with Down syndrome have an extra (or, third) copy of the 21st chromosome.
Down syndrome was named after Dr. John Langdon Down, who first documented the condition in 1866.
- Down syndrome is caused
when a pair of the 21st chromosomes in either the sperm or the egg fail to split prior to or during conception. It is NOT caused by anything the mother does while pregnant.