Down syndrome is a condition in which a person has an extra chromosome. Chromosomes are small “packages” of genes in the body. They determine how a baby’s body forms and functions as it grows during pregnancy and after birth. Typically, a baby is born with 46 chromosomes.

common physical features

Trisomy 21: About 95% of people with Down syndrome have Trisomy 21.2 With this type of Down syndrome, each cell in the body has 3 separate copies of chromosome 21 instead of the usual 2 copies. Translocation Down syndrome: This type accounts for a small percentage of people with Down syndrome (about 3%).2 This occurs when an extra part or a whole extra chromosome 21 is present, but it is attached or “trans-located” to a different chromosome rather than being a separate chromosome 21. Mosaic Down syndrome: This type affects about 2% of the people with Down syndrome.2 Mosaic means mixture or combination. For children with mosaic Down syndrome, some of their cells have 3 copies of chromosome 21, but other cells have the typical two copies of chromosome 21. Children with mosaic Down syndrome may have the same features as other children with Down syndrome. However, they may have fewer features of the condition due to the presence of some (or many) cells with a typical number of chromosomes.

A measure of income issued every year by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Federal poverty levels are used to determine your eligibility for certain programs and benefits, including savings on Marketplace health insurance, and Medicaid and CHIP coverage.

The 2021 federal poverty level (FPL) income numbers below are used to calculate eligibility for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

How federal poverty levels are used to determine eligibility for reduced-cost health coverage

Functional behavioral assessment (FBA) is a process schools use to figure out what’s causing challenging behavior.

To help students, schools use a process to identify and understand challenging behaviors, and come up with possible solutions.

During an FBA, the school team gathers information and uses it to create a plan to improve behavior.

The term "hearing impaired" is often used to describe people with any degree of hearing loss, from mild to profound, including those who are deaf and those who are hard of hearing. Many individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing prefer the terms "deaf" and "hard of hearing," because they consider them to be more positive than the term "hearing impaired," which implies a deficit or that something is wrong that makes a person less than whole.

Deaf, deafened, and hard of hearing individuals may choose to use hearing aids, cochlear implants, and/or other assistive listening devices to boost available hearing. Alternatively, or in addition, they may read lips, use sign language, sign language interpreters, and/or captioning.

People who are deaf or hard of hearing may have speech that is difficult to understand due to the inability to hear their own voice.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a law that makes available a free appropriate public education to eligible children with disabilities throughout the nation and ensures special education and related services to those children.

Additionally, the IDEA authorizes: Formula grants to states to support special education and related services and early intervention services. Discretionary grants to state educational agencies, institutions of higher education, and other nonprofit organizations to support research, demonstrations, technical assistance and dissemination, technology development, personnel preparation and development, and parent-training and -information centers.

In the law, Congress states: Disability is a natural part of the human experience and in no way diminishes the right of individuals to participate in or contribute to society. Improving educational results for children with disabilities is an essential element of our national policy of ensuring equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for individuals with disabilities.

Occupational therapy is the only profession that helps people across the lifespan to do the things they want and need to do through the therapeutic use of daily activities (occupations). Occupational therapy practitioners enable people of all ages to live life to its fullest by helping them promote health, and prevent—or live better with—injury, illness, or disability. 

Occupational therapy services typically include: an individualized evaluation, during which the client/family and occupational therapist determine the person’s goals, customized intervention to improve the person’s ability to perform daily activities and reach the goals, and an outcomes evaluation to ensure that the goals are being met and/or make changes to the intervention plan. 

Occupational therapy practitioners have a holistic perspective, in which the focus is on adapting the environment and/or task to fit the person, and the person is an integral part of the therapy team.

A public board of education or other public authority within a state that maintains administrative control of public elementary or secondary schools in a city, county, township, school district, or other political subdivision of a state.

School districts and county offices of education are both LEAs.

Under the Local Control Funding Formula, charter schools are increasingly treated as LEAs.

Learning disability is a general term that describes specific kinds of learning problems. A learning disability can cause a person to have trouble learning and using certain skills.

dyslexia—which refers to difficulties in reading; dysgraphia—which refers to difficulties in writing; and dyscalcula—which refers to difficulties in math.

When a child has a learning disability, he or she:

IEPs are developed by a group of professionals at school. One member of this IEP team typically acts as a case manager and oversees the IEP. You’re part of your child’s IEP team, too. That means you’ll be involved in the process as the IEP is made. The IEP team will use the results of your child’s evaluation testing to design the plan. The scores show the specific areas your child struggles with. Having that information allows the IEP team to provide the individualized instruction and supports your child needs.

Here are some of the things the IEP will include: Your child’s present level of performance in school (PLOP) Individualized instruction and related services , such as occupational therapySupports like accommodations and

Your role in creating your child’s IEP doesn’t stop once the plan is done. In fact, it’s very important that you go over the IEP carefully and make sure it has everything it should have, and that you agree with what the school has proposed.

A personal care assistant is an individual trained to help persons with basic daily routines. A PCA may be able to help you if you have a physical, emotional or mental disability, a chronic illness or an injury.

Eligibility To be eligible for the personal care assistance program, a person must meet all these criteria: Be eligible to receive Medical Assistance or MinnesotaCare Expanded (pregnant women and children) Require services that are medically necessary Be able to make decisions about your own care or have someone who can make decisions for you

Services Personal care assistance services must be medically necessary. A person must need help to complete activities of daily living, have health-related tasks or need observation and redirection of behavior to use these four categories of services: Activities of daily living (includes eating, toileting, grooming, dressing, bathing, transferring, mobility and positioning) Complex health-related functions (includes, under state law, functions that can be delegated or assigned by a licensed health care professional to be performed by a personal care assistant) Instrumental activities of daily living (includes meal planning and preparation, managing finances, shopping for essential items, performing essential household chores, communication by telephone and other media and getting around and participating in the community) Observation and redirection of behavior (includes monitoring of behavior)

PBS provides a process to understand and resolve the problem behavior of individuals or children that is based on values and empirical research.

The Origins of PBS

Evolution

Students &Young Adults

Resources & Workshops

PACER Center enhances the quality of life and expands opportunities for children, youth, and young adults with all disabilities and their families so each person can reach his or her highest potential. PACER operates on the principles of parents helping parents, supporting families, promoting a safe environment for all children, and working in collaboration with others.

There is no known cure for PDD. Medications are used to address specific behavioral problems; therapy for children with PDD should be specialized according to need.

The diagnostic category of pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) refers to a group of disorders characterized by delays in the development of socialization and communication skills. Parents may note symptoms as early as infancy, although the typical age of onset is before 3 years of age

Symptoms may include problems with using and understanding language; difficulty relating to people, objects, and events; unusual play with toys and other objects; difficulty with changes in routine or familiar surroundings, and repetitive body movements or behavior patterns.

Public law 94-142 is the Individuals with disabilities education Act. This piece of legislations is a United States federal law that is responsible for governing how states and various public agencies provide early intervention, special education and other related services to children with disabilities.

What are the provisions of Public Law 94-142?

What role do parents play?

Date Approved

Public Law 105 - 15 - An act to amend title XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to permit a waiver of the prohibition of offering nurse aide training and competency evaluation programs in certain nursing facilities.

The purpose of the project is to build partnerships between parents and educators to ensure that children receive the highest educational opportunities and achievement possible.

A team consisting of a parent of a special needs child and an educator staffs each PERC

All PERCs have certain common functions and responsibilities including: Providing information, resources, and training for parents on important issues such as parenting skills, problem solving, educational planning for their child, behavior management, home learning activities, and other topics to strengthen home-to-school partnerships; Assisting families on an individual basis to better understand their children's educational needs and to discover opportunities and options for meeting these needs; Connecting families with appropriate community services; and Offering information, resources, and training to educators to increase the skills, knowledge and attitudes needed to encourage and strengthen family involvement and positive school-to-home partnerships.

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