I believe that this rate is not far from reality. Kids with Downs syndrome are at a higher risk for Autism because low muscle tone/sensory processing issues can lead to Autism, according to what I read in the book The child with special needs. They also have mitochondrial dysfunction that it is not diagnosed/treated, even when there is enough scientist data that have proven this. As a parent of a child with Down syndrome, I am in the conquered to get my son tested for mitochondrial dysfunction. Howsoever, doctors are not accepting his case as soon as they know he has Down syndrome.
Here is a good example of the exiting data about Mitochondrial dysfunction and Down's syndrome from the U.S. National Library of Medicine, pubmed.gov:
Abstract...Using astrocytes and neuronal cultures from DS fetuses, a recent paper shows that altered metabolism of the amyloid precursor protein and oxidative stress result from mitochondrial dysfunction.1 These findings are consistent with considerable data implicating the role of the mitochondrial genome in DS pathogenesis and aetiology. Copyright 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Approximately 100% of kids with Down syndrome have mitochondrial dysfunction, which is easy to spot because most of kids with Down syndrome have hypotonia (low muscle tone) that causes extremely fatigue that make them with low tolerance to high impact activities, so they tiered easily. About 80% of kids with Autism somehow have Mitochondrial dysfunction as well. This is what mitochondrialdiseases.org says about Autism and related diseases:
(Shoffner, JM et al. J Child Neurol. 2010 Apr;25(4):429-34; Epub 2009 Sep 22) The most common clinical observation in children with both ASD and mitochondria disorder was hypotonia, or muscles with low tone, followed closely by “fatigue with activity.” They also found that approximately 60 percent (17 of 28) of these children experienced a regressive form of ASD, a rate of regression that is over two times greater than what is observed in the general population of individuals with ASD.The U.K. study found some differences on DS-ASD than having Autism or Down syndrome alone. Which is not new for parents who are dealing with the coexisting conditions. Many parents feel they don't belong to either group because when DS and ASD are combined the challenges become more numerous and complex. According to the article, Clinical research:Down syndrome, Autism often coexist published on Simons foundation, Autism Research Initiative:
"The children who have both disorders are more likely to have trouble with small talk and to engage in compulsions and rituals than are children with Autism alone. And they are more likely to be to be hyperactive and to have emotional and behavioral problems than children with Down syndrome alone. They are also more likely to have lost language abilities and other skills they had previously gained than children with Down syndrome alone. However, they tend to be better at making social overtures and responding to other children who approach them than are those with only autism. Given these distinctions, the researchers say, people with the dual diagnoses may benefit from specialized treatment plans."It seems that having an extra gene make kids with Down syndrome to be more resistant to not getting hard tumor cancer, having heart attack, nor suffering a stroke. It seems that the extra gene may also make them more resistant to Autism in the social area. So the extra gene may have the answers to the cure of some diseases.
According to my personal point of view, every child with Down syndrome and Autism alone comes with a unique set of challenges that need to be addressed individually according to the child's unique needs. In our son's case, it is not much different even when he has Down syndrome and Autism as coexisting conditions. We are treating Tommy's challenges focused on his unique underline health issues commonly seeing in a child with Autism because he has them and we have done the testing that confirms this. Howsoever, we don't have the major health complications due to his Down syndrome diagnosis. We are also teaching him by focusing on his neuro-development, more than focusing on special education.
I have to make emphasis that there are more appropriate educational and medical treatments for kids Autism than for kids with Down syndrome, even when Down syndrome has existed approximately since the 5th or 6th century. According to Linda Crnic Institute for Down syndrome, it is a fact that Kids with Down syndrome have a predisposition to specific learning strengths and challenges that are not currently addressed in practice in special education. It is even worse when the child faces two coexistent conditions. At the same time, there are not true medical treatments that target the underline health declines for kids with Down syndrome either, even when science has advanced so much. Just a very small group of parents have discovered that there are underlines causes that can be treated to improve the quality of life of kids with Down syndrome. And yes, many of the underline causes are similar to the ones observed in Autism.
One day, I went to the bookstore and I snapped this photo.
Because it pictures to me that there are not proper treatments
for kids with Down syndrome after so many centuries.
If you look at the bookshelf, there are many books about Autism
and what you can do to help a child with Autism.
If you look at the bottom shelf you will spot the book
"I'm Down with you," a beautiful inspirational book about
having a child with Down syndrome
and the only book on the shelf that about Down syndrome.
There is not a book on the shelf about what you can do
to help your child with Down syndrome to reach his full potential.
Books about Down syndrome and Autism as
coexistent conditions almost don't exist.
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