Maddox is a two-year-old girl with Down Syndrome, beloved and entouraged by her parents. Her mother, Jamie McClintic, does a lot to improve Maddox’s life, from swimming lessons to 15 hours of therapy a week. However, there are two particularly important things Jamie does that could make a big difference in her daughter’s life. She surrounds herself with a close-knit support group and has high hopes for her daughter’s life. She finds it essential that Maddox grows up with peers who will protect her in high school and ‘dance with her at the dance.’ Though, it should help Jamie as a mother of a child with special needs to have such a solid network to support her. Jamie wants her daughter to graduate from college, get a job, live in a house, have a roommate, and drive a car. In addition, as it is known, all this, like many other things considered ‘normal,’ can be done by people with Down Syndrome.
Among chromosomal pathologies, a special place is occupied by Down Syndrome, one of the newborns’ most common genetic disorders. Its main cause is a random genetic mutation, resulting in a third extra chromosome appearing in the 21st pair of chromosomes (Moyer, Gardiner and Reeves, 2021). Maddox still has 46 chromosomes, like most people in the world, but she has a double chromosome, which causes Down Syndrome development (2 Year Old Girl, 2012). However, there is no cure; early intervention programs, alternative and complementary communication technologies, and inclusive education help to significantly improve the quality of life of people with these developmental disabilities.
Legislation & Policy
Children with Down Syndrome need the support of others and a friendly and positive atmosphere. It applies both to the education process by parents, who must create a suitable atmosphere for the child’s successful development, and to education when the role of the teacher becomes essential. The Code of Ethics recognizes that children’s professionals have unique trust and influence in their relationships with children, families, colleagues, and society, so professional responsibility is vital (CELC Code of Ethics, 2013). The Core Principles require a commitment to respecting and upholding the rights and dignity of children, families, colleagues, and communities, regardless of the individual or individual. According to the ECA, professionals are committed to recognizing and respecting the uniqueness of each child and their family (CU15 ECA Code of Ethics, 2013). Respectful, reciprocal, and responsive relationships are central to education and childcare. In addition, democratic, fair, and inclusive practices promote fairness and a strong sense of belonging.
The approach to learning and understanding each individual student must be built without judgment or prejudice. The Code of Conduct recognizes that the relationship between teacher and student is unequal: teachers have a unique influence and trust in students that must not be violated or endangered (The Victorian teaching, 2021). The legislative process to ensure inclusive education in Australia is primarily predetermined by international legal acts (declaration, conventions, resolutions) and initiated by the changing social position of society concerning people with unique abilities. That means that the issues of providing educational services to children like Maddox are regulated by documents of various levels – international, federal, departmental, and regional. International sources provide for detailing the fixed rights and freedoms in the system of comprehensive provision of guaranteed human protection and reflect changes in the situation of public understanding of the problem.
Maddox has every right to receive a full-fledged inclusive education and is an integral part of society, like any other person. The Disability Discrimination Act, which has existed since 1992, governs the elimination, as far as possible, of discrimination against persons based on disability, primarily in areas such as education and work (Disability discrimination, 2015). Thus, people with disabilities in Australia have the same rights to equality before the law as the rest of society. Teachers must follow established codes and understand that children with Down Syndrome are learnable and require the same individual attention as other children.
Learning Experience Plan
Descriptive reports of the development of children with Down Syndrome almost always draw attention to expected delays in their speech and language development. Despite a wide range of individual differences, most children say their first words late, and their vocabulary grows more slowly than normal children. Although they use the exact two-word phrases as all children, they find it challenging to master many rules for constructing grammatically correct sentences (Laleg and Berrabah, 2020). Proper, appropriate language instruction will help promote the social and cognitive development of children with Down Syndrome, including Maddox. Language and literacy development are significant areas of early childhood development. These include the development of skills used to communicate with others through languages (language development) and cognitive development. An example of teaching children is the ability to speak their parent’s native language and read the basic words in that language.
Children with Down Syndrome have a tough time absorbing information by ear but do well with visual perception. Therefore, it is good when training is designed so that everything is presented in the form of cards, inscriptions, visual explanations, and visual reinforcement. If in this way they make up education in kindergarten or at school, then children learn many times better. For example, it is known that play-based learning will interest any child, so it is possible to create a store experience where children pretend to buy ice cream or fruits/vegetables. As a teacher, one can give Maddox a language sample by showing her ice cream (visualization) and saying the word. Play is a context for learning that:
- allows one to show individuality and uniqueness
- enhances tendencies such as curiosity and creativity
- allows children to make connections between previous experiences and new learning
- helps children develop relationships and concepts
- stimulates feelings of well-being (Belonging, being & becoming, 2009).
Using visual objects will help Maddox learn words to help her play and communicate with other children or express what she wants or needs in real life. A similar learning experience to help with language in childcare could help Maddox better adapt to society.
In addition, Australia has its First National Early Learning Program, which supports and promotes this approach to teaching children. The Framework ensures that children in all early childhood education and care settings receive quality teaching and learning. It emphasizes learning through play and recognizes the importance of communication and language (including early literacy and numeracy) and social and emotional development (Belonging, being & becoming, 2009). The Framework has been designed to be used by early childhood educators working in partnership with families, the children’s first and most influential educators. This Framework is designed to help educators provide young children with opportunities to reach their full potential and lay the foundation for future learning success.
Challenges
Children with Down Syndrome learn different areas of speech/language at different rates. Usually, children understand speech better than they speak. Although listening to speech is difficult for them, it is even more difficult for them to express themselves (Supporting the student, 2019). Children with Down Syndrome tend to take longer to understand a question and respond appropriately (Supporting the student, 2019). This problem leads to the fact that the average length of sentences that a child with Down Syndrome constructs is less. For example, an ordinary child at 4 years old builds a sentence on average from 4-5 words, and a child with Down Syndrome – from 1-2 words (Laleg and Berrabah, 2020). At six and a half years, a child with Down Syndrome builds an average sentence of 3-4 words (Laleg and Berrabah, 2020). In addition, the proposals will be generally simpler in structure. In everyday life, this is not a tragedy at all, but at school, a child may have difficulties because of this, but regular classes improve this indicator.
Pragmatics, that is, using language to communicate is relatively easy for people with Down Syndrome. With practice and little experience, they learn unwritten rules (for example, they speak in turn without interrupting each other; they greet and say goodbye, and more). Children with Down Syndrome understand that there are different communication situations, and they communicate differently with a little brother and a teacher at school (Laleg and Berrabah, 2020). Usually, it is more difficult for such children to learn not to deviate from the topic of conversation, to ask for clarification of an incomprehensible aspect, or to ask questions. Still, practice helps them to master these skills as well.
Children with Down Syndrome are good at using non-verbal (non-verbal) means of communication, such as smiling, other facial expressions, and gestures. Each student with Down Syndrome is unique; for example, the speech therapy approach will not be effective for every student. The speech pathologist can suggest strategies to use in a class. In addition, visuals like photos are still great communication tools.
Learning Experience Summary
Language learning experience allows a child with a disability to adapt successfully to the environment and society as a whole. It helps him to accept and fulfill the appropriate social roles, psychologically protect himself, and achieve the necessary emotional and mental balance. Thanks to the game in general and the role-playing game in particular, the child receives the necessary skills:
- self-service;
- behavior in various life situations;
- manual skills;
Inclusive education has a lot of advantages for all children: those who are conditionally healthy from childhood understand that all children are different, and it is good that they understand this earlier. In this case, a child will be more empathic and be able to understand other people’s feelings better.
Reflection
The teacher plays an important role in creating a moral and material environment adapted directly to the educational needs of any child. That is possible only in close cooperation with parents, other teachers, the leadership of the educational organization, and more, that is, in a close-knit team interaction of all participants in the educational process. Teachers play a critical role in determining what happens in the classroom. Some argue that the development of more inclusive classrooms requires teachers to meet the different needs of students through changing or differentiating the curriculum. However, inclusion assumes that everyone in school understands the needs of exceptional children: teachers, cloakroom attendants, canteen workers, security guards, and parents of typically developing children. Of course, teachers need help so that they can change teaching materials and assignments, cope with unwanted child behavior, and use alternative or additional communication.
Reference List
‌CU15 ECA Code of Ethics (2013). Web.
Belonging, being & becoming: the early years learning framework for Australia. (2009). Canberra, A.C.T.: Dept. of education, employment and workplace relations for The Council Of Australian Governments.
CELC Code of Ethics (2013). Web.
Disability discrimination‌ (2015). Web.
Laleg, A. and Berrabah, S. (2020). Vocabulary acquisition by Down Syndrome children: Challenging cognitive and learning disabilities. Univ-tiaret.dz.
Moyer, A.J., Gardiner, K. and Reeves, R.H. (2021). All creatures great and small: New approaches for understanding Down Syndrome genetics. Trends in Genetics, 37(5), pp.444–459.
Supporting the student with Down Syndrome in your classroom information for teachers (2019). Web.
The Victorian teaching profession’s Code of Conduct (2021). Web.
2 year old girl with Down Syndrome: The McClintic family — Our Special Life — Episode 3 (2012). Web.