Bruce Beck/ Guild to use walk proceeds for education package
By Bruce Beck
bbeck@amarillonet.com The Panhandle Down Syndrome Guild will conduct its first Buddy Walk® on Oct. 5 at John Stiff Memorial Park.
"Panhandle Down Syndrome Guild is a support group mainly for parents of children with Down syndrome," said Heidi Hawkins, whose 19-month-old daughter, Hadley, has Down syndrome.
"Proceeds will go toward creating a new education package for parents of children born with Down syndrome so they can study and learn what they're going to have to change."
Down syndrome is usually caused by an error in cell division called nondisjunction, according to information provided by the National Down Syndrome Society's Web site www.ndss.org
| At a Glance Who: Panhandle Down Syndrome Guild What: Buddy Walk® When: 9:45 a.m. Oct. 5 Where: John Stiff Memorial Park Information: 356-7455
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All people with Down syndrome have an extra portion of a chromosome. This additional genetic material alters the course of development, the Web site stated. "It's not really a negative thing," Hawkins said.
"We want parents to see the positive."
Information from the National Down Syndrome Society said that one in every 800 to 1,000 children is born with Down syndrome, but advances in clinical treatment have raised the life expectancy of a person born with Down syndrome from 9 in 1910, to 55 or older today.
Women 35 and older have a significantly increased risk of giving birth to a child with Down syndrome, the Web site said.
At 35, the chance is 1 in 400. At 40, the chance is 1 in 110. At 45, a woman's chance of giving birth to a child with Down syndrome is 1 in 35.
The Panhandle Down Syndrome Guild aims to help parents adjust to living with a child with Down syndrome, Hawkins said.
"We advise them on when to have the child's heart, eyes, ears and spine checked," she said. "It's important they go early on to get help and advice on things like speech development and muscle tone.
"You want to give them every opportunity to get stimulation to help with their development," Hawkins said.
Anne Pollard was five months pregnant when she and her husband, Rick, were told their child would be born with Down syndrome.
Cael, now 14 months old, undergoes therapy to help develop coordination, speech, sight and hearing, she said.
"He's our full-time job," Anne Pollard said. "But my child can be anything he wants to be."
Most people with Down syndrome have IQs that fall in the mild to moderate range of retardation.
Researchers and educators are still discovering the full educational potential of people with Down syndrome, information from the Web site stated.
Hawkins said parents should get their children involved in outside activities as early as possible.
"Get them involved," she said. "If you do, you give them a better chance at life."
Registration for the Buddy Walk® begins at 9:15 a.m. Oct. 5 at Stiff Memorial Park's picnic area No. 10, and the walk begins at 9:45, Hawkins said.
In addition to the Buddy Walk®, carnival games, face painting, hot dogs and drinks, and door prizes will begin at 10:45 a.m., according to information provided by the Panhandle Down Syndrome Guild
"The games for children and food will be 10:45 a.m. to 1 p.m.," Hawkins said.
After Buddy Walk® expenses are settled, 30 percent of the remaining proceeds are donated to the National Down Syndrome Society for research. The remaining funds stay with the Panhandle Down Syndrome Guild to help pay for educational and promotional materials, and help create the packages for new parents of babies with Down syndrome, information from the organization said.
The information packet the organization hands out to parents "is a kind of cookbook on what to look for," Hawkins said.
