Teaching a child with Down Syndrome does not end when the child leaves the classroom at the end of the school day. Yes, your child’s teacher should be doing everything in his or her power to overcome the cognitive struggles your child faces each day and to accommodate for them. But, there are actions you can take too. There are actually ways to talk to, direct, and guide your child in a way that is positive for any particular situation and also that are positive for the overall cognitive growth and maturity of your child. Over the course of a day, all children are given tasks and directions. Sometimes, children are even given chores and responsibilities. For a child with Down Syndrome, these tasks and responsibilities can become overwhelming, confusing, hard to remember, or seemingly impossible to succeed in. So, finding ways in which to clarify, simplify, and organize these tasks in a beneficial way for the child is going to be key to a smooth, successful, stress-free environment for yourself and the child. “Keeping high expectations and remaining enthusiastic and encouraging” are key facts to remember when needing a child to respond positively to direction and responsibility as well as learning in the home. According to the Down Syndrome Aim High Resource Center, there are important accommodations for parents and teachers to remember when interacting with and teaching their child. Knowing what cognitive differences the child may have is very important in taking steps to lessen the effects of those cognitive differences as well as taking steps to accommodate for those differences. Explore the site below to find out!
How to Use: Teachers and Parents may use the "Tips for Teaching Children with Down Syndrome" as a quick guide to thoughts to remember when working with and trying to teach children who have Down Syndrome. This portion is not lengthy, yet provides helpful reminders of attitudes, behaviors, and methods of teaching that are successful when working with the children.
How to Use: Teachers and Parents may use the "Tips for Teaching Children with Down Syndrome" as a quick guide to thoughts to remember when working with and trying to teach children who have Down Syndrome. This portion is not lengthy, yet provides helpful reminders of attitudes, behaviors, and methods of teaching that are successful when working with the children.
Children with Down Syndrome do not have to be a mystery. Many times, these children are quite similar to younger learners. Using a “mult-modal” approach when teaching, parenting, giving directions, teaching morals, giving life-lessons, and going about the child’s daily routines and responsibilities is going to help immensely in getting through to the child and truly reaching them at a level that will bring forth positive results. The Canadian Down Syndrome Society has compiled a wonderful archive of information for parents and teachers of children who have Down Syndrome. Particularly on page four, parents can access information about their child’s patterns of cognitive growth and become more aware of the types of accommodations that children who have Down Syndrome will need as a part of growing up. The CDDS outlines tips for teachers and parents to keep in mind when accommodating their child’s cognitive development. They break up page four into several major headings: Teaching Concepts, Teaching Routines, Building Relationships, and Preventing Problems. Although it may seem as though this article is for teachers, parents need to remember that they are their child's teacher at many instances during their child's day. Explore this website further to truly understand how you can talk to, plan activities, and run your household in a way that accommodates your child instead of trapping them in a world or certain rules and ways of doing things that does not match their ability.
How to Use: Under each of these headings: Teaching Concepts, Teaching Routines, Building Relationships, and Preventing Problems, there are tips for teachers as well as useful information for parents who are trying to implement responsibility, manners, tutor their children before or after school, or improve their cognitive skills. Use these tips when working with your child.
How to Use: Under each of these headings: Teaching Concepts, Teaching Routines, Building Relationships, and Preventing Problems, there are tips for teachers as well as useful information for parents who are trying to implement responsibility, manners, tutor their children before or after school, or improve their cognitive skills. Use these tips when working with your child.
Founded by the Assessable Technology Coalition, the following website offers key vocabulary for difficult words such as developmental disability, learning disability, cognitive disability, autism, and traumatic brain injury in addition to a comparative explanation of each. Also, the bulk of this website offers a helpful list of “Daily Living Technologies particularly helpful for memory aid, task analysis, and cognitive retraining/rethinking”. According to the Assessabe Technology Coalition, the cognitive level of many children with Down Syndrome requires aids in memory, analyzing tasks or situations, and retraining themselves how to think or react to things. Therefore, parents can get a lot of use out of this site because it provides low-cost and easily available technologies that can aid children in improving their cognitive skills in these three areas. The assessable Technology Coalition claims that “Individuals with DD or TBI may need assistance with remembering scheduled events, regular activities (e.g., taking medication or paying bills), sequencing (e.g., the order in which to put on clothing), and the identity of objects or people” and therefore offers several assistive technologies to accommodate their cognitive levels. In addition, they also claim “Task analysis is the process of breaking a large task into smaller components. For example, “separating an egg” is a large task that can be broken into picking up an egg, tapping it against a bowl until it cracks, separating the two sides, identifying which side has the yolk, shifting the yolk to the other side, etc. This analytical process can be difficult for people with DD or TBI”. Helping children learn the steps of how to accomplish tasks is going to build their independence in problem solving and allow them to be more independent at school and at home. Lastly, the Assessable Technology Coalition also claims that “Cognitive training for people with DD helps them learn basic skills, such as cause-and-effect sequencing. It can also provide more accessible way to learn the same skills as their peers, such as turn-taking, self-care, and reading”. Because these are the realities of the cognitive levels of many children who have Down Syndrome, these technologies, if implemented correctly and in the most appropriate situations, can be so very beneficial for the child.
How to Use: When viewing this site, keep in mind the needs of your child. Your child's needs may be several from this list, or may only be one or two. Use the technologies listed in order to help improve your child's cognitive skills and ability to function independently. Sometimes it takes a little outside help, and these available and low-cost technologies could really be the key!
How to Use: When viewing this site, keep in mind the needs of your child. Your child's needs may be several from this list, or may only be one or two. Use the technologies listed in order to help improve your child's cognitive skills and ability to function independently. Sometimes it takes a little outside help, and these available and low-cost technologies could really be the key!
In addition to providing key terminology and a legal explanation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, this is a great source for learning how to accommodate the cognitive abilities of your child. This website was created for employers of people who have cognitive and learning disabilities. In using the strategies stated on this web source, parents can more successfully teach many aspects of life to their children. Not only will this source help with teaching children how to maintain responsibilities and learn in the home and at school, but this can also help you explain to your child’s potential employers what types of things can work for your child and what may not match their cognitive needs. Being able to let others know about how to accommodate your child begins with you learning how to accommodate your child’s cognitive needs. This is a great source that explains much of what parents can use for reading, writing, memory, performing calculations, organization, time management, performing/completing tasks, etc. Written by the Job Accommodation Network, this website claims that people with cognitive disabilities may have more to overcome in these areas of the learning and working field than others of their same age. Therefore, learning about what can be done to accommodate your child’s cognitive needs, is crucial to their success even after they become more independent.
How to Use: Use this website when advocating for your child in the workplace or in any work-type of situation. The child CAN be successful, if give the tools he or she needs. Allow employers to truly understand your child's needs and when those needs are met, the child can perform as the employer needs. Use these tools to help your child successful in the workplace or in the school environment.
How to Use: Use this website when advocating for your child in the workplace or in any work-type of situation. The child CAN be successful, if give the tools he or she needs. Allow employers to truly understand your child's needs and when those needs are met, the child can perform as the employer needs. Use these tools to help your child successful in the workplace or in the school environment.
This source is meant to reiterate a very important break through in the world of learning disabilities and cognitive disabilities related to Down Syndrome and other disabilities. This entire source explains the course of an extensive research study done that proves that increased reading has the potential to “improve the memory and language development” abilities of children with Down Syndrome. The study spans four years and includes fourteen children. The results are astounding and the information is relevant. Not only do children need to be working diligently with their teachers and tutors to improve reading skills and abilities, yet parents also play an important role in maintaining a mindset of reading as a routine for their children. Many parents do not count reading as important as they probably should for their child’s development, but the truth is that it is very key for children of all ages and all ability levels. Therefore, use this article to build your own knowledge of the true and scientifically proven importance of reading so as to be sure to implement it into your child’s routine.
How to Use: Use the knowledge from these research-based practices to learn the importance of reading in your child's life. Cognitive abilities can improve immensely according to this study, if the child begins to read more often and more in depth. Allow yourself to become familiar with this study and to take it to heart in order to help your child to develop to their fullest potential!
How to Use: Use the knowledge from these research-based practices to learn the importance of reading in your child's life. Cognitive abilities can improve immensely according to this study, if the child begins to read more often and more in depth. Allow yourself to become familiar with this study and to take it to heart in order to help your child to develop to their fullest potential!
Michelle Nettle is a board certified music therapist. Her client has autism. In this video, her therapy goals are using music for improving cognitive skills and auditory processing, and motor skills. Music can be a very useful tool for accommodating for and working with children who have less ability to process auditory directions and messages. Consider using music in your home to accomplish daily tasks and routines as well as learn life lessons, manners, and social behaviors!
"Listen to the Rhythm" Cognitive & Motor Skills Intervention
Michelle Nettle is a board certified music therapist. Her client has Down Syndrome. In this video, her therapy goals are using music for improving speech and language skills. Music can be a very useful tool for accommodating for and working with children who have less ability to produce their own speech and forms of language structures or sounds. Consider using music in your home to teach responses, manners, questions, answers, and how to respond in different conversations!