Downsyndrome.com

Byline: Matt Arado Daily Herald Staff Writer Most people would consider it pretty unusual for a 2-year-old like Katelyn Spruyt to have her picture splashed across the huge NBC television screen in New York’s glitzy Times Square. But it actually was the fact that Katelyn is generally like most other girls her age that put her on Broadway.

A picture of Katelyn, a Mount Prospect resident, appeared on the screen Sept. 25 as part of a public awareness campaign about Down syndrome. Her picture appeared in a video presentation that depicted people of all ages with Down syndrome …

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Researchers in the UK have developed a potential mouse model for Down Syndrome. By transferring chromosomes from human fibroblasts into mouse embryonic stem cells and then injecting those into early embryos, they have created a strain of mouse (Tc1) with an almost complete (92%) human chromosome 21, The resulting mouse has several characteristics of Down Syndrome, such as learning and memory problems and congenital heart defects (Science, 309, 2033).

Down Syndrome in humans is caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21 and previous efforts to create a mouse model have …

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Byline: Eileen O. Daday Daily Herald Correspondent Standing in front of a whimsical mural of a castle painted in the background, children mugged for the camera. Now in their second year, they all knew the drill: They were posing for their place on the wall of fame. Photos make up a key element of GiGi’s Playhouse in Hoffman Estates, a support and recreational center for children with Down syndrome that celebrated its second anniversary Sunday with an open house and party.

One of the center’s most successful fund-raisers has been a calendar featuring children’s photos. Inside …

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It is commonly reported that the conversational speech of both young males with fragile X syndrome and individuals with Down syndrome is very difficult to understand (Abbeduto & Hagerman, 1997; Miller & Leddy, 1999; Stoel-Gammon, 1997, 2001). Fragile X syndrome and Down syndrome are the most common genetic causes of mental retardation (Dykens, Hodapp, & Finucane, 2000; Hagerman & Hagerman, 2002).

Most males with fragile X syndrome and individuals with Down syndrome have mild to moderate mental retardation and adaptive, social, and communication difficulties …

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