Sunday, December 7, 2008

Reporting on the Kennedy-Brownback bill

Dr Brian Skotko, whom I quoted in my article for the Register was the inspiration for the Kennedy Brownback Bill, by conducting a survey about how women were told their child had Down syndrome.
About half of the women said doctors talked about or emphasized negative aspects: that almost 50 percent of children with Down syndrome will need heart surgery; that they will need to see a specialist for their condition; and that they will need speech or physical therapy.
But that's far from the whole story, Skotko said.


Today, surgery, treatment and therapy are readily available and often successful. And a recent study showed life expectancy for people with Down syndrome doubled between 1983 and 1997, going from 25 to about 50 years old.
Also, children diagnosed with Down syndrome are routinely mainstreamed in public schools, Skotko said. And they are scoring higher on standardized tests. Many of them even work and live on their own.

"So, just like you and I have a whole range of talent, so do people with Down syndrome," he said.

This bill which we advocates of Down syndrome have worked so hard to pass, is starting to make itself known out there, for the hope it brings. Not to mention the lives it will save.
Now we have to make sure it receives proper funding in the Spring.
Read the entire story here.

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