Child with Disability, Intellectual Disability, Learning, Parenting, Schools, Special Needs 
4 Comments More About Learning (Part 1)
My last few posts have covered some of the issues we are currently facing as we explore secondary school options for Poppet. I’d be remiss now if I overlooked an important point concerning Poppet’s development (and indeed every other person who has Down syndrome), and that is people with Down syndrome can learn; it may take different forms compared to ordinary people but the bottom line is they can and do learn.
If a generation is 25 years, then it’s only been just over a generation where society hasn’t locked people with Down syndrome away in institutions. Due to the greater ‘inclusion’ of people with Down syndrome in our society, we now have a wide range of research and writings available on this topic. This is helping our understanding of the best ways to facilitate learning for people with Down syndrome. It’s still early days though really.
Thanks to the studies and research, a number of factors have been identified that influence how the individual processes information to grasp new concepts. Poppet is no different to any other person with Down syndrome when it comes to learning. The most fundamental difference is the speed it takes for her to process information and follow instructions.
Poppet does take longer to respond and react to information or stimulus. For example, she finds it difficult to catch a ball when it’s thrown fast. It’s simply too quick for her to react. She often gets frustrated when watching her favourite show, ‘Funny Home Videos’. Her dad and I will be laughing at a video snippet that has simply been too fast for her to comprehend the content. Sometimes she turns to look at my face to determine how to gauge a particular video.
She also takes longer to process instructions and this has sometimes caught me off guard; I’ve found myself getting annoyed and impatient when waiting for her to complete a task like getting out of the car or getting ready for bed. I have to check myself and remind myself to allow greater time for her to complete things.
Some people may call her ‘slow’ but they overlook the important point that she eventually understands. I seem to remember some time when Poppet was going to early intervention we were told that if it took an ordinary kid two or three attempts at mastering a new skill, it would take a child with Down syndrome 101 attempts. It requires the task to be broken down into the smallest of steps, then an enormous amount of practice.
(I’ve just realised that ‘early intervention’ is something you may not know about. I’ll make sure I’ll write about this another time.)
In our experience, this number has been even greater for some skills. Her swimming for example has taken over seven years, and this has included two swimming sessions almost every week, each of those years. It’s just one of those skills that has taken a long time, a lot of practice (and a lot of money). With music, it’s also going to take a long time, although she is fortunate to have a musical ear so, even though complicated, it’s comparatively simple.
At this point, I’ll pause, with the promise of more to come about this topic, for it’s quite complex and I hope to draw out some more issues.
Yes it does take them longer but they do get there. We are familiar with early intervention. It started when Alexander was 3 months old. And of course I really wasn’t ready for all that so soon.
We are now doing tele school with RIDBC, every week we have a lesson. It is great and is what I have been looking for. Something that is consistent, not spasmodic. Alexander is getting familiar with it and we do extra work at home. We do the ling sounds when he gets up and a few picture cards which I sign and say the word and sound the animal makes. He’s not talking yet but understands what is said to him. I’m in awe of him sometimes in how he takes it all in his stride.
We do swimming as well. He loves it.
We have started toilet training and he hangs on for me to take him but has not yet taken himself or even signed to me when he needs to go. I know he will get it, but it can be a little frustrating sometimes.
Great read. You explain it all so well and I love hearing about Poppet and your journey. We are all still learning as we go.
It sounds like you have a very full life, which I found is the case when you care for a child with special needs. It’s the repetition that can be tiring for us but it is worth persevering. Toilet training for us too was reeeeally frustrating and you can’t express that at all, lest you give the child even more emotional stress with it. We tried everything from using a rewards chart, to putting stickers on the actual toilet seat. Poppet was almost four when she mastered the loo and it was a huge day of celebration. Remember that figure, 101. It gives a perspective. Thank you again for your thoughts. I appreciate it and love hearing about your story too.
Yes as a grandparent closely involved with Poppet I too had to understand the way she learned and to try various strategies. Where learning could be made a game or a song it was easier, but as she gets older and things she has to learn more complex it becomes harder.
Thank you for your observations. You, of all people certainly learned the best way to help Poppet learn. You spent so much time with her, when she was little and achieved great success. For this, I am grateful and Poppet fortunate enough to have a solid grounding of the fundamentals.