Down's Syndrome Babies- Unsdorf

amother

Hotpink

Tue, Apr 14 2015, 11:20 pm

I was in Unsdorf for Pesach and Shabbos (think Meah Shearim-type community in Yerushalayim), visiting friends/family. Not my world at all, but I enjoyed it. I noticed that there were not a lot of children with Down's Syndrome. This is a community where most women have 9-12 children. Even if a girl starts having her first at 18, I'm assuming there is a larger-than-normal percentage of women in this community who are having children over the age of 35+ (which is when the risk for Down's goes up). I saw one person with Down's syndrome (an adult), and no young children.

I am wondering where they are? Are they just kept in doors at Yom Tov and Shabbos? Are they put into a home? Or am I just assuming things and there isn't a particularly high percentage?

loving it!

Tue, Apr 14 2015, 11:32 pm

why are you asking? to try to put down others?
especially by asking this:
"I am wondering where they are? Are they just kept in doors at Yom Tov and Shabbos? Are they put into a home? Or am I just assuming things and there isn't a particularly high percentage?"

or are you really curious because you deal with down syndrome on a daily basis and therfore always look around for others with downs syndrome?

Fave

Tue, Apr 14 2015, 11:40 pm

When I visit a new community, I take in the culture - language spoken, food served, interaction between peers, clothing worn..... I never thought to keep tabs on the disabled/handicapped among them. Am I missing something?

amother

Ivory

Tue, Apr 14 2015, 11:48 pm

At least one big posek (was it R Shlomo Zalman?) ruled that women should stop having children at 42 because of significantly increased risk. If you look at the figures, the risk goes up a lot in the 30's from 1/400 for age 35 to 1/100 at age 40. That's still not THAT high. It's not till 45 that it's 1/30. (This is from a chart on Downs soecifically, not all chromosomal abnormalities.)

MagentaYenta

Tue, Apr 14 2015, 11:49 pm

Fave wrote:

It would be just the opposite if you visited the town I live in. We are a destination for parents with special needs adults and children. You would notice that almost every shop and store has a special needs person working there. And you would see even larger groups almost daily walking town with their caregivers or attending events. Yea, I guess it's part of our culture here.

FranticFrummie

Tue, Apr 14 2015, 11:51 pm

MagentaYenta wrote:

Wow, that sounds really lovely!

MagentaYenta

Tue, Apr 14 2015, 11:56 pm

FranticFrummie wrote:

Wow, that sounds really lovely!

It is wonderful. We have an incredible amount of services available, huge levels of community support and involvement too. This area also excels in elder care as well as care and support for individuals with ALZ.

I live across from 3 duplexes that are independent living for special needs adults. They all work in local businesses and are great neighbors. One of the units is for 24 hour staff. Most of the funding for this facility comes from the ARC.

FranticFrummie

Wed, Apr 15 2015, 12:57 am

MagentaYenta wrote:

I can just imagine how great it would be to live there.

DD is high functioning special needs, and she has a real special place in her heart for people with different needs. She's always the first one in her class to make friends with someone in a wheelchair, who has Autism, etc.

She's only 11, and she's already trying to figure out what she wants to do for Sherut Leumi service. For her bas mitzvah project, she's raising money to train guide dogs for the blind in Israel. On Shabbos she often goes with friends to visit in our local retirement/nursing facility - not for volunteer hours, but "just because". Very Happy

FranticFrummie

Wed, Apr 15 2015, 2:23 am

amother wrote:

Do you mean abortion?

I recently read that in the US, 70% of all diagnosed Downs pregnancies are aborted. I can only pray that those little neshamos can come back to parents who will treasure them just the way they are. If I were much younger, I would gladly adopt a child with Downs Syndrome.

amother

Khaki

Wed, Apr 15 2015, 2:26 am

I live across from 3 duplexes that are independent living for special needs adults. They all work in local businesses and are great neighbors. One of the units is for 24 hour staff. Most of the funding for this facility comes from the ARC.[/quote]
What your describing is a community that hosts special needs pple, Are they all children of pple that live in your community?
No Unsdorf doesn't have a special needs community but I'm sure there are special needs kids there like every other place.

amother

Vermilion

Wed, Apr 15 2015, 2:33 am

Probably. Understandably, it's not something that people talk about, but the numbers of children born with Down keep getting smaller.
In the general population, termination is nearly universal when fetal testing reveals Down syndrome.

ROFL

Wed, Apr 15 2015, 3:25 am

MagentaYenta wrote:

Wow. I would like to know more about your community. It sounds great !

amother

Hotpink

Wed, Apr 15 2015, 3:29 am

OP here.

I have a lot of family with special needs, so I notice these things very often. That and my husband and I were discussing how larger-than-ours family sizes impact dynamics, and I touched upon how difficult it must be for mothers to raise special needs children, along with their other children, and be the primary earner as the husbands are in Kollel- its not easy! Then I realized that I did not see a lot of special needs children.

Some special needs are the cause of environmental factors- unfortunate accidents- or genetics than can be controlled though Dor Yeshorim. But Down's is often (though of course not always) impacted by the mother's age at the time of conception. If women are having children into their late 30's, and assuming that they do not abort- then I'd assume that this particular community would have a high rate of Down's.

Now, it could be that I just did not see the special needs children- its not like I was knocking on doors looking for them. Maybe I just missed it entirely. Or maybe if most girls get married at 18, they are having children only from 18 to 35- its very doable to have a large family in that time span. I'm just curious, and I did not feel comfortable asking my hostess. Do Charedi families have high incidences of Down's? Is that a 'thing'?

shabbatiscoming

Wed, Apr 15 2015, 3:53 am

OP, so you went to a community with no children who have down syndrome. What is your point? I live in a yishuv. Not 100 families. Many more than that. There are no down syndrom children here either. What of that? I just dont understand your point.
I am sure there are many communities where there are no down syndrome children.

amother

Khaki

Wed, Apr 15 2015, 4:03 am

shabbatiscoming wrote:

I just think she is curious because according to statistics it just doesn't add up.
I don't think EVERY time someone makes an observation they mean it in a negative way.

shabbatiscoming

Wed, Apr 15 2015, 4:10 am

amother wrote:

I just think she is curious because according to statistics it just doesn't add up.
I don't think EVERY time someone makes an observation they mean it in a negative way.

nd my point was like you said, "it doesnt add up", why does it have to add up? I have lived in other ocmmunities where there are no down syndrome kids. I dont get her observation. Unsdorf is a neighborhood, not a city or something. Its a few streets at most probably. I just dont understand her observation. My point was that we can say the same thing about other places too.