Health and medical issues

Content

Healthcare needs

Children with Down syndrome are at greater risk for some illnesses and for hearing and visual difficulties. Any child’s developmental progress will be influenced by illness or sensory difficulties, so that it is important that all healthcare issues are understood and addressed. The Health section of this module provides a guide to the healthcare needs of children with Down syndrome, explains assessments and treatments and gives references to further reading. It is perhaps worth noting that some illnesses will present with obvious symptoms but some may not, for example, ear ache or tummy ache. A small child may have no way of expressing that they feels ill or is in pain except by being unhappy and, maybe, irritable, unco-operative or difficult. Therefore it is always important to consider and rule out illness reasons if a child’s mood changes, they stop making progress or they are difficult, before assuming they are simply being uncooperative or naughty.