Educating Learners With Down Syndrome

Educating Learners with Down Syndrome

For individuals with Down syndrome, the extent of the effect of intellectual disability depends largely on the degree of provision of appropriate support and intervention. In Educating Learners with Down Syndrome, editors Rhonda Faragher and Barbara Clarke have brought together a number of expert contributors, whose chapters review recent findings in the field of DS education, highlight promising practices, and identify areas for future research. While the emphasis is primarily on the school years, links to early intervention and to life post-16 are made, with chapters organized into three parts: conceptual overview of issues in learning and teaching, learning mathematics, and literacy development. The book is also united by the cohesive themes of assessment, evidence-based practice, and inclusive practices. Educating Learners with Down Syndrome importantly incorporates the voices of individuals with Down syndrome, whose personal narratives add significance to the research mission of the text and demonstrate the authors' inclusive philosophy. Aimed at researchers, teacher educators, higher degree students, and policy makers, this book is the first of its kind to provide a compendium of research on educating learners with Down syndrome.

Education for Individuals with Down Syndrome

Teaching Children with Down Syndrome about Their Bodies, Boundaries, and Sexuality

Parents of children with Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities are accustomed to paying close attention to their child's physical, cognitive, and emotional development. This proactive approach should also include their child's sexual development, which for many parents may not seem as obvious or urgent, especially to those with young children. Drawing on her unique background as both a sexual educator and mother of a child with Down syndrome, the author blends factual information and practical ideas for teaching children with Down syndrome about their bodies, puberty, and sexuality. This book gives parents the confidence to speak comfortably about these sometimes difficult subjects. In an easy-to-read, non-clinical style, the book covers relevant issues and concerns for children of all ages, such as: Labelling & explaining private body parts; Identifying & expressing emotions; Respecting personal space; Teaching self-care & hygiene; Understanding norms of privacy; Understanding gender identity; Showing appropriate levels of affection. It also covers later issues that affect teenagers and young adults, including: Anticipating and understanding puberty; Dealing with periods, bras for girls; Experiencing erections, wet dreams for boys; Relating to the opposite sex; Sharing parental values about sexuality; Explaining sexual relationships; Preventing sexual abuse; Understanding how Down syndrome affects puberty & fertility rates. Each chapter highlights important points with key messages, teaching activities, parental pauses, and anecdotes, all of which prompt readers to stop and consider concepts or values associated with a particular topic. The final chapter covers the special concerns of parents who are now teaching teenaged or adult children about sexuality for the first time. It concludes with extensive appendices containing invaluable teaching materials and illustrations of body parts and functions.