Gym Says No to Down's Syndrome

Theresa Kuhns wanted to throw her son, Liam, a birthday party. She had looked at a few places online and finally decided on a relatively well known place called Surgent’s Elite Gymnastics. However while planning, Kuhns ran into an issue.

The company would not plan a party for Liam because he is a special needs child. Liam has Down’s syndrome. Surgent’s gymnastics did not have anyone who could properly train a special needs child, and when asked if they could hire one the answer was no. Children like Liam have to face adversity like this from people every day, simply because they have Down’s syndrome. But what is Down’s syndrome? What are the causes and effects of it?
            Down’s syndrome is a genetic disorder wherein there is an extra 21^st chromosome, this is why Down’s syndrome is also known as trisomy 21 (see Figure 1). It is also the most common genetic disorder in 691 having it. it was discovered in 1866 by John Langdon Down, however it had to been noticed before then. The disorder is caused by an error when the chromosomes are being separated and an extra 21^st chromosome is added to a cell. This is called nondisjunction and currently there are no known explanations as to why nondisjunction occurs.

                      (Figure 1- A karyotype of someone with Down's sydrome)

The most common signs of Down’s Syndrome are, according to the national Down’s syndrome society, “low muscle tone, small stature, an upward slant to the eyes, and a single deep crease across the center of the palm- although each person with Down’s syndrome is a unique individual and may possess these characteristics to different degrees or not at all.” Most people with the disorder can live mostly normal lives with relative ease if they are given proper care. An odd fact about Down’s syndrome is that unlike most genetic disorders this one is not hereditary.

            Since Theresa’s story was broadcast a number of businesses have offered to host her son’s birthday party and the founder of the gymnastics company even apologized and said that the company would in fact like to host the party. However Ms. Kuhn turned him down as the party had already been booked with many other companies. The gymnastics company is going to change their policy and will host an event for children with special needs.