On March 21st, colourful socks are expected to be on display in the streets and
offices of Antigua and Barbuda as the world stops to commemorate World
Down Syndrome Day.
Each year, medical officials at the Paediatric Unit at the Sir Lester Bird Medical
Centre flash their crazy-coloured socks to bring awareness to the disease and
this year will be no different.
World Down Syndrome Day has been observed each year on March 21, since
2006.
International statistics say that around one in every 800 babies will be born with
Down Syndrome – a condition in which a person has an extra chromosome –
and which has no known cause.
In 2022, Antigua and Barbuda had one baby born with the condition out of 931
live births.
And while numbers remain limited for those affected, medical officials over the
years have called for continued improvement of services to assist those affected
and their families.
Additional special education facilities and more financially friendly treatment
centres were just a few of the areas, they mentioned need to be addressed.
There are presently three special needs institutions on the island while 16
children with Down Syndrome are enrolled in either public or private schools.
Presently, families spend thousands of dollars for treatment services like sight
and speech classes.
This year’s theme is ‘End the Stereotypes’.
A stereotype is a set idea that people have about what someone or something is
like.
For people with Down syndrome and intellectual disabilities, stereotypes can
stop them from being treated like other people. They get treated like children,
they are underestimated and often times excluded.
