Parenta Magazine March 2020

“
Ask the children
to think about
whether they are
different inside.
This will be a tricky
concept for them,
so be ready to help
them out.
”
then you do not need a picture as
they will already have been part of
the differences spotted during the
first section. Ask the children what
differences they can see. State these
differences as factually as you did the
first set of differences, be very matter
of fact about it. This is not shocking, or
saddening, or strange, (or cute): it is
just difference and difference is very
normal.
Explain to the children that the facial
features they are observing mean that
the person they are looking at has
Down’s syndrome and that having
Down’s syndrome means they are a
little bit different inside as well. When
I have talked to young children about
this, I have found that revealing it
as if they have discovered a secret
really captures their attention. At an
age, where discovery is fascinating,
learning that a visual clue tells you
about an unseen thing, is really
exciting.
Ask the children to think about whether
they are different inside. This will be
a tricky concept for them, so be ready
to help them out. Perhaps a child in
your setting can speak a different
language, perhaps one child is really
good at counting. Use these children
as examples, so let’s say Martha
speaks Spanish and English, you might
ask Martha to stand up. “We all know
Martha can speak another language,
don’t we?” The children nod. “Can
we see that?” This might be tricky
for them as they visually recognise
Martha. You could show them a photo
of someone they do not know and ask
them whether they think that person
can speak Spanish. Help them to
understand that some differences are
visible and some are hidden.
Go back to looking at the picture of the
person with Down’s syndrome, explain
that they have a difference inside that
we cannot see; some of them to do
with Down’s syndrome, some of them
to do with their personality. Tell the
children that having Down’s syndrome
can mean that your brain will take
longer to learn new things. Seek
examples from them of things they
have learned quickly and things it took
them a long time to learn. How did
they learn the things that did not come
easily to them?
Do not shy away from identifying things
children have struggled with or are
struggling to learn. If we talk openly
about these things, it gives the children
the permission to be open about it too,
to ask for help and to not feel guilty that
they do not understand yet.
Ask the children what they would
need to do if their brain took longer
to learn. They may say “ask for help,
try again, practice” etc. Reinforce that
these are good ideas and that people
with Down’s syndrome may need to
employ these strategies too. Ask them
how they can help a friend who is
struggling to learn? They might say,
“tell them the answer, show them how
to do it, help them to do it” etc. Praise
their ideas and tell them that these
would be great to do for a friend who
had Down’s syndrome too.
This conversation will take a few
minutes of your day. It will help
children to think about the strategies
they use when they learn and remind
them how to cope when they are
struggling to learn. And for children
with Down’s syndrome and their
families, having Down’s syndrome
understood as a fact not a tragedy,
could make all the difference!
You could end the chat by watching
some videos of children and adults
with Down’s syndrome doing fun
things, so that the children can see
more differences and similarities –
“they like football like me”, “he likes
cats but she doesn’t” and so on.
For more information about Down’s
syndrome look at www.downssyndrome.org.uk
or follow bloggers
like www.downssideup.com
Joanna Grace
Joanna Grace is an
international Sensory
Engagement and Inclusion
Specialist, trainer, author, TEDx
speaker and founder of The
Sensory Projects.
Consistently rated as
“outstanding” by Ofsted,
Joanna has taught in
mainstream and specialschool
settings, connecting
with pupils of all ages and
abilities. To inform her
work, Joanna draws on her
own experience from her
private and professional life
as well as taking in all the
information she can from the
research archives. Joanna’s
private life includes family
members with disabilities and
neurodivergent conditions and
time spent as a registered
foster carer for children with
profound disabilities.
Joanna has published four
practitioner books: “Multiple
Multisensory Rooms: Myth
Busting the Magic”, “Sensory
Stories for Children and Teens”,
“Sensory-Being for Sensory
Beings” and “Sharing Sensory
Stories and Conversations with
People with Dementia”. and
two inclusive sensory story
children’s books: “Voyage to
Arghan” and “Ernest and I”.
Joanna is a big fan of social
media and is always happy
to connect with people
via Facebook, Twitter and
LinkedIn.
Website:
thesensoryprojects.co.uk
parenta.com | March 2020 17