Hi & welcome, Mark!  Recently you wrote in a message to All:

MH>  I have just picked up this echo from my hub.  I
MH>  had seen it before, but was not totally clear on
MH>  the discussion until now.


          Within the last few months we had a thread about what makes this
echo tick... [chuckle].  It's not easy to tell sometimes until one gets to
know more about the sort of people who hang out here, but I'll add an
example of the sort of material I think you can probably relate to.  A few
days after Nora's birth, when the pediatrician's diagnosis of DS had just
been confirmed, the gynecology resident accosted me outside our room to
ask... in essence... why I hadn't been weeping & wailing & gnashing
my teeth.  I told him about Judy, a former student of mine, and added that
I'd be quite content to have a daughter like her.  :-))



MH>  As some already know, my youngest son (4 years old now)
MH>  has Down Syndrome.  He is only mildly effected from it,
MH>  causing some delays.  It took him alittle longer to walk
MH>  (now he runs), drink from a cup, etc.


          Uh-huh.  IIRC, kids with Down's syndrome walk independently at 3
yrs. of age on average... just as Nora did.  One of the common
characteristics of DS is that various muscle groups tend to be stronger
than others.  Babies who open their fists at an earlier age than usual, for
example, may have difficulty with tasks which require bending the elbows or
the knees.  Eventually the muscles do sort out among themselves which must
pull how hard in order to balance the pull from the opposite direction, but
they learn on their own unique timetable.  You probably know this already. 
I'm filling in a bit for those who may not.  While I'm at it, BTW, the
apostrophe + s after "Down" is optional in Canada.  I'm not
correcting anyone's spelling, just using the spelling I personally prefer. 
;-)



MH>  He is doing all those things now, but his speech is still
MH>  developing.


          IOW he's a typical boy in many ways although he may have reached
some milestones later than others of his age generally do.  One of the hot
topics in the EdBiz is that at K/1 level a lot of boys would rather play
catch with Daddy than be chained to a desk under the supervision of a
female teacher who expects them to learn to read.  Boys tend to achieve
reading readiness later than girls because their focus at this age is on
developing gross motor skills.  With Nora we've found that a growth spurt
in one area is accompanied by a plateau in some other area more often than
not.  While she was learning to walk she didn't make a lot of progress WRT
her vocabulary... but then I learn in a similar way.  :-)



MH>  He knows how to say many words and completely understands
MH>  just about everything you say to him.


          I figure he probably understands more than some other adults
realize. When Nora was around the same age I realized I had to simplify my
delivery if I expected other kids (of supposedly normal or higher
intelligence) to understand what I was attempting to say.  I agree that
both speech therapy & sign language may be very helpful for kids who
can't get their tongues around the words.  :-)



MH>  He is also very godo at sports and has a good pitching arm.


          There's one example of how Nora changed my life for the better. 
When I was growing up I was always the last to be assigned to a team in PE
because I was such a klutz.  I remember how my classmates groaned aloud
when I missed the target (yet again!!) and other stuff I won't bore you
with.  I managed to avoid team sports as an adult until the Universal
Intelligence, or whatever you would prefer to call it, asked me if I was
willing to parent a kid with DS & I rashly agreed.  I didn't know at
the time that the job involved teaching PE.  But Nora doesn't seem to mind
so much if I can't hit the broadside of a barn... and as a result of her
interest in sports I've become a lot more interested myself.  :-)



MH>  He has been a real blessing and a wonderful child.


          Yes.  A mother of two once told me she often wished her
"typical" son was more like the one with DS, and a mother of four
told me the one with DS was the light of her life.  I don't have other kids
of my own to compare with, just a whole bunch of students of various ages. 
But otherwise I can relate....  :-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+