Strong-willed, compassionate, and easy-going are characteristics that we can give to many individuals. Just the same, we can label individuals as temperamental, close-minded, and aggressive. Individuals are unique in their own various ways. Some may have similarities, but one similarity does not make individuals completely identical. If two individuals have the same disease or disorder, then that is just one similarity. This does not mean they have the same personality, intellect, or that they enjoy and hate the same things in life. When someone is said to have Down syndrome, people quickly assume that they are incapable of performing common tasks that those without the syndrome can perform. Some people believe that Down syndrome is a debilitating disease that ruins the life of the carrier and carrier's family. Before judging an individual with Down syndrome, it is important for everyone to know what Down syndrome is and what it encompasses.
In 1866 an English doctor named John Langdon Down reported a few select characteristics that became known as Down syndrome. However, many people believe that Down syndrome has always existed. According to the book Down Syndrome: The facts, " The earliest recorded representation of a person with characteristic features of the condition dates back to an altar-piece in Aachen, Germany, painted in 1505." (Selikowitz 25). In the beginning people with Down syndrome were referred to as being "Mongols" or having "Mongolism", because people thought that Down syndrome was related to a Mongolian Culture Shock. At this point in time no one was able to discover a cause for Down syndrome. Around 1932 a man named de Waardenburg suggested that Down syndrome was caused by an abnormality in the chromosomes, and it was not until 1959 that de Waardenburg's assumption was confirmed (Selikowitz 25).
"Down syndrome, the most common genetic condition, occurs in approximately one in every eight hundred to one thousand live births- (http://www.