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At Home with Down Syndrome (2008)

thenewatlantis.com

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Re: At Home with Down Syndrome (2008)

#51

Post by 2lwxxtj »

canam wrote: post #50
2lwxxtj wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have other children? Would you have preferred it if your child with Down Syndrome had not been born that way?

I do. I have another son who does not have Down Syndrome. Your question is difficult to answer. His condition is a part of who he is. If he didn't have Down Syndrome he would be a different person. In effect your question is do I wish I had a different son. The answer is no, despite the challenges.

If I were to ask if you'd prefer that your normal son had been born with Down Syndrome, would that be an easier question for you to answer?

Re: At Home with Down Syndrome (2008)

#52

Post by tptacek »

2lwxxtj wrote: post #51
canam wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do. I have another son who does not have Down Syndrome. Your question is difficult to answer. His condition is a part of who he is. If he didn't have Down Syndrome he would be a different person. In effect your question is do I wish I had a different son. The answer is no, despite the challenges.

If I were to ask if you'd prefer that your normal son had been born with Down Syndrome, would that be an easier question for you to answer?

This is getting creepy. Maybe you might back off a bit.

Re: At Home with Down Syndrome (2008)

#53

Post by 2lwxxtj »

tptacek wrote: post #52
2lwxxtj wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I were to ask if you'd prefer that your normal son had been born with Down Syndrome, would that be an easier question for you to answer?

This is getting creepy. Maybe you might back off a bit.

He made the choice to share personal details. If he doesn't want to continue to answer, he doesn't have to. I'm not going to follow him around on here trying to get an answer out of him.

Re: At Home with Down Syndrome (2008)

#54

Post by meepmorp »

rory wrote: post #45
meepmorp wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, that's bullshit. Don't play armchair neurologist and diagnose people's conditions from a distance as a way of explaining their behavior.

I clearly stated I'm not diagnosing any conditions, so the accusation is uncalled for. Neurotypical is hardly a scientific word, but to the extent it applies to anyone, you'd have a hard time convincing me it applies to RMS.

The term neurotypical doesn't have to be scientific to have meaning. The term is very strongly associated with autism and ASD, and that's the context in which the term was used here. Using an existing, loaded term in reference to a person's behavior, prefixed with a "I'm not diagnosing any conditions," fig leaf is disingenuous.

Re: At Home with Down Syndrome (2008)

#55

Post by rory »

meepmorp wrote: post #54
rory wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I clearly stated I'm not diagnosing any conditions, so the accusation is uncalled for. Neurotypical is hardly a scientific word, but to the extent it applies to anyone, you'd have a hard time convincing me it applies to RMS.

The term neurotypical doesn't have to be scientific to have meaning. The term is very strongly associated with autism and ASD, and that's the context in which the term was used here. Using an existing, loaded term in reference to a person's behavior, prefixed with a "I'm not diagnosing any conditions," fig leaf is disingenuous.

You are the only one using the words autism and ASD in this thread. There was no such prior context.

Re: At Home with Down Syndrome (2008)

#56

Post by slothtrop »

Daub wrote: post #31
yhoneycomb wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just curious could you give examples of them being witty?

Always wanting to subvert serious situation. For example... me being in a bad mood having to get up at 5.00am to milk the cows, and this Downs boy looking up at me with a crazy big-ass grin that would completely wipe all sour thoughts from my mind. They play with language in a very disarming manner. Not highbrow, but will find compelling nicknames for their loved ones and deliver them in a way that is difficult not t…

That's all very nice, but it isn't wit.

Re: At Home with Down Syndrome (2008)

#57

Post by canam »

2lwxxtj wrote: post #51
canam wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do. I have another son who does not have Down Syndrome. Your question is difficult to answer. His condition is a part of who he is. If he didn't have Down Syndrome he would be a different person. In effect your question is do I wish I had a different son. The answer is no, despite the challenges.

If I were to ask if you'd prefer that your normal son had been born with Down Syndrome, would that be an easier question for you to answer?

It's really not a different question. Either way if my other son also had Down Syndrome, I would accept him and love him for who is. That's our job as parents, right? BTW, our odds of having our first son with Down Syndrome and autism were about 1 in a million (maybe higher). Our odds of having a second child with Down Syndrome were 1 in 100. That didn't stop us.

I don't mind answering questions about our experience. Hopefully this line of questions isn't trying to prove a point.

Re: At Home with Down Syndrome (2008)

#58

Post by slothtrop »

nvarsj wrote: post #6

I think that Down Syndrome is a very misunderstood syndrome. The way it makes you look dominates how people think about you, without even knowing you. I interact with someone online who has Down Syndrome. It really changed my understanding of it. He can articulate very well when writing, and has a deep passion and understanding on some topics we discuss (like music...). If he hadn't of told me he had Down Syndrome I…

It's on a spectrum. Some are utterly unable to take care of themselves. By going forth with a pregnancy, you take on the risk that outcome can be far worse than exemplified. Chromosomal deletion is one possibility. No one wants to take care of a vegetable, let alone roll the dice on a "milder" case of downs.

Re: At Home with Down Syndrome (2008)

#59

Post by lanfeust6 »

rubidium wrote: post #39
nvarsj wrote: post #6

I think that Down Syndrome is a very misunderstood syndrome. The way it makes you look dominates how people think about you, without even knowing you. I interact with someone online who has Down Syndrome. It really changed my understanding of it. He can articulate very well when writing, and has a deep passion and understanding on some topics we discuss (like music...). If he hadn't of told me he had Down Syndrome I…

It’s effectively genocide and quite damning on society. I don’t put it squarely on the parents because it is so difficult. My neice has downs. Interactions with her are about the here and now. Joy and life. Fun and wit. Not plans and efficiency and production. Those with downs are modern day prophets for the rest of us to expose the soul-destroying utilitarian ethics of modern society... and we’re killing them!

It's not genocide by any definition. That would constitute eliminating an existing culture / ethnicity / society.

Re: At Home with Down Syndrome (2008)

#60

Post by dang »

Jabbles wrote: post #17

This may be related to the recent controversy over RMS at the FSF foundation: https://rms-open-letter.github.io/appendix.html In 2015 and 2016 RMS made three posts on his website about Down’s syndrome. - He recommended that, should someone find out they are pregnant and the child tests positive for Down’s syndrome “the right course of action for the woman is to terminate the pregnancy.” - He referred to people decidi…

"Eschew flamebait. Avoid unrelated controversies and generic tangents."

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

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