Down syndrome (DS) is a genetic disorder and the most common autosomal chromosome abnormality in humans where extra genetic material from chromosome 21 is transferred to a newly formed embryo.
According to statistics from the Down Syndrome Society of Kenya, many children born with the disorder are locked away from the people’s glare, lest they shame their parents and healthy siblings.
In Nakuru’s Manyani estate of Kivumbini Ward, Nakuru East sub-county, I meet Ms Grace Wangui, a mother to 5-year-old daughter Meagan who is leaving with Down syndrome.
It is while attending the cardiac health check-ups that a doctor realized that her daughter was with the condition.
Common Down syndrome symptoms are: there are a small head and short neck, a flat face, and upward slanting eyes, ears are flat and positioned lower than “normal, “the tongue protrudes and seems to be too large for the mouth, hands tend to be wide, with short fingers and there is just a single flexion crease in the palm, and joints tend to be more flexible and muscles may lack tone.
Ms Wangui admits that after researching about the disease, she was able to relate some of the symptoms with what she was seeing on her daughter including delays in time to sit, crawl, walk, and talk.
This, she says is a group of women who have children with Down syndrome condition and they have joined hands to learn and cope with the condition.
Ms Wangui is just but a representation of many parents in the society who have children with Down syndrome condition and what they go through.
They are appealing to the Government and society to stop the stigma around Down syndrome but embrace the children with the condition giving them support.
Similar sentiments were echoed by Charles Mwangi from Nakuru Youth Bunge who run a project 'Tusome Initiative’ for lower grades pupils.
Most schools do not take care of their needs to enhance children’s prospects.
“The government should now be serious with matters disability and ensure special schools for various categories of disabled pupils and students. Let disability not be used as a tool to embezzle funds” Mwangi said.
Conditions associated with Down syndrome including those affecting the heart or the gastrointestinal system and may require evaluation and care, sometimes requiring surgery.
But the good message according to the Down Syndrome Society of Kenya is that many children with the condition can live normal lives if their condition is diagnosed early and appropriate interventions put in place.
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