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Down Syndrome HistoryDown Syndrome History Throughout history people with the characteristic features of Down Syndrome have been depicted in art and written about in literature. In ancient art angels were sometimes painted with the features of a person with Down Syndrome. Not only the facial features were evident, but sometimes also the short fingers, the space between the toes, as well as the low set ears and other features. The closest depiction I have found so far, is a painting at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. The painting, titled, The Adoration of the Christ Child, shows an angel next to Mary with the typical features of someone with Down Syndrome. There is one other figure, one of the shepherds, who may have these features. That one was kind of hard to tell. This painting dates back to 1515.
In 1866 the physical characteristics of people with Down Syndrome were linked with decreased intellectual ability and grouped as one syndrome. The English physician, John Langdon Down, was the first to publish these findings. Due to the fact that the facial features of people with Down Syndrome were similar to those of people from Mongolia, he used the term mongoloid to refer to a person with (what is now known as) Down Syndrome.
In 1959 Dr. Jerome Lejeune, a French physician, made the discovery that Down Syndrome was the result of a chromosomal abnormality. His research led him to the fact that the cells of people with Down Syndrome (mongoloids, at the time) had 47 chromosomes, whereas the cells of people without the syndrome only had 46 chromosomes. Just a little while after that, it was discovered that chromosome number 21 contained an extra partial or complete chromosome in these so called "mongoloids". Thus, the term Trisomy 21 was born. The New Name In 1961 a group of prominent geneticists from around the world got the name of this condition changed from Trisomy 21 to Down Syndrome (after John Langdon Down). The World Health Organization accepted this new name as standard in 1965. Today in the United States, Canada, and most other countries of the world Down Syndrome is the accepted term when referring to this genetic disorder. In the United Kingdom, however, it is referred to as Down's Syndrome.
Into the 20th century people with Down Syndrome as well as those with other disabilities were still being institutionalized and often sterilized. In Germany, in 1940, Adolf Hitler implemented the "Aktion T-4" program. Aktion T-4 refers to the plan to euthanize people with DS and other disabilities. (Why does that not surprise me about Hitler?) Today people with Down Syndrome are living full and happy lives. Some even get married and have their own place to live. They go to school, they hold jobs, some become artists, or musicians, or actors. Yes, people with Down Syndrome may need a little extra time and extra help learning things but they will achieve!
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