Adult Down Syndrome Center

😄😡🥲 Today is World Emoji Day! 🥰🤢😟

Did you know emojis are a type of visual? Just like emojis help us quickly express feelings through pictures, visual supports can help people identify and communicate emotions in everyday life.

Our Emotions Visual features a variety of feelings, including happy, sad, frustrated, excited, scared, and more. Individuals can use the visual to communicate how they are feeling simply by pointing to an emotion. While the resource was developed to support people with Down syndrome, others may also find it to be helpful.

🔗 Access the Emotions Visual for free in our Resource Library: https://adultdownsyndrome.org/resources/emotions-visual

Health passports are documents that individuals with Down syndrome and their families can fill out to share information with healthcare professionals. Health passports can include:
🗣 how a person communicates,
😧 signs that they are in pain or stressed,
😌 what they do to calm down,
👍 likes/dislikes,
➕ and more

These documents can be particularly helpful if an individual goes to the hospital and interacts with healthcare professionals who may not know them. There are some versions that have been developed specifically for people with Down syndrome or other intellectual and developmental disabilities. See the link below to access free templates.
🔗 https://adultdownsyndrome.org/resources/health-passports/

Connective tissue helps hold our bodies together. It supports and provides structure to other tissues in the body.

Connective tissue is different in people with Down syndrome. One of the components of connective tissue is collagen. There are many types of collagen. Type VI collagen is encoded on the 21st chromosome. This is one factor that may contribute to differences in connective tissue in people with Down syndrome.

People with Down syndrome have a higher frequency of several conditions that may be related to these differences in connective tissue including overpronation, atlantoaxial instability, keratoconus, hernias, varicose veins, and others. While there aren't treatments for corrective tissue differences, there are treatments for conditions caused by the connective tissue differences.

Brian Chicoine, MD, shares more information about connective tissue in the article linked below.
🔗 https://adultdownsyndrome.org/resources/connective-tissue/

Dry skin is a common skin problem that people with Down syndrome can experience not only in the colder winter months but all year long. In the summer, spending time in the sun and swimming pools can contribute to dry skin.

For most people with Down syndrome, dry skin typically requires ongoing attention and treatment. A few ways to prevent and treat dry skin are:
💧 staying hydrated,
💨 limiting skin exposure to sun and strong wind,
🧴 using moisturizing creams and ointments, and
💊 assessing and treating for hypothyroidism.

Additional information about dry skin is available in the article by Brian Chicoine, MD, linked below.
🔗 https://adultdownsyndrome.org/resources/dry-skin/