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Last week I saw a memorable five year old girl
named Ciarra. One of my office staff called me to witness her
performance. Ciarra was reading a book, and she read the following
sentences:
I see a yellow duck.
I see a blue bird.
I see a purple cat.
I see a brown dog.
I see Ciarra.
I see Jesse.
I see Sarah.
I see Blue.
I see Callie.
I see a cat.
I congratulated the mother, Michelle, telling
her I was impressed with Ciarra’s performance. That same night,
I reviewed the mails that Michelle sent me.
Ciarra was full term, 6 pounds 7 ounces, normal
delivery. She stayed 9 days at the NICU because of VSD and PDA. Her only
problem was the usual ear infections of childhood.
At one year old Ciarra was able to say “eat
cookie” occasionally. She fed herself with spoon and fork at 13 months
old. At 18 months old, she was using 2-3 word phrases and also identified
several colors and shapes.
She took her first step at 22 months old and
walked well at 24 months. When she was 27 months old, she was fully potty
trained day and night. At 30 months old, she can identify all shapes and
most colors.
At 3 ½ years old, Ciarra could read 3
words and by 3 years nine months old, 20 words.
At 4 years old she knew all upper and lower
case letters and their corresponding sounds. She could identify
numbers, 1 to 20 and count objects up to 19.
Most pediatricians and developmental
specialists would not be impressed with Ciarra’s
development . However, if they were at my office that
day, they would have been amazed and impressed. Ciarra has Down
Syndrome!
I asked Michelle how she stimulated Ciarra.
This was her answer:
“LOTS of books, busy environment, new and
interesting toys, lots of sound and color, new places and people. textures,
experiences, (I desensitized her very early to the world, she wasn’t scared
of ANYTHING) Literally hundreds of hugs and kisses and I Love Yous.”
Early brain stimulation through playing,
reading, counting, and other fun activities could make a big difference in
the advanced development of all children whether they have Down Syndrome or
normal chromosomes.
The new theories on early brain development
should be part of the Routine Check up of all babies. Primary care
clinicians should discuss at each Routine visit the importance of reading,
counting, sign language, and a minimum 20 minutes floor time with their
baby. Parents should not allow watching TV until their child is 6 years
old, a difficult prescription but is worth doing.
If Ciarra who has Down Syndrome could read at
five years old, what would happen if most parents would stimulate their
babies the same way as Michelle did? We will have smarter children and
probably reduce school failure and other negative behaviors.
Leo Leonidas, MD, FAAP, Assistant Clinical
Professor in Pediatrics, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston; Attending Pediatrician, Eastern Maine Medical Center, Bangor, Maine.
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