Downsyndrome.com

Byline: Dave Zielasko

To members of the Down syndrome community in Indiana, tire dealer Joe Meares is a visionary and an inspiration.

The father of four daughters, including 6-year-old Peyton, who was born with the chromosomal disorder, Mr. Meares is the founder, spirit and leader of the first father-specific Down syndrome organization in the U.S.

Called D.A.D.S. (Dads Appreciating Down Syndrome), the group began in 2002 as a vehicle for fathers to come together to support each other and become more involved in the lives of their children with special needs. From that initial …

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Byline: Dave Zielasko

A forum is born

Instead of concentrating solely on the emotional aspects of having a child with a disability, D.A.D.S. is more issue-oriented, focusing on things like financial, educational and legislative issues and sports for children with Down syndrome.

That’s not to say the members don’t share their feelings, but that tends to happen more on a one-to-one basis outside the public forum.

For Mr. Sell, joining D.A.D.S. at that initial meeting may well have saved his marriage. If the divorce rate is about 50 percent for all Americans, it soars to …

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Scientists are working on a therapy that could be used to treat the retardation associated with Down’s syndrome (DS, also called trisomy 21) while the baby is still in the womb. The group, led by Roger Reeves at Johns Hopkins University in Pennsylvania, believes it has discovered the root cause of some of the developmental characteristics in the brain that occur in the condition.

Reeves’ group had earlier shown that there are changes in the cell content of the cerebellum–part of the brain located at the nape of the neck–in individuals with DS (Human Molecular Genetics 2003, 12, …

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