31 for 21 Blog Challenge: POST TWENTY ONE: Characteristics

Characteristics of Down Syndrome

There are over 50 clinical signs of Down syndrome, but it is rare to find all or even most of them in one person. Every child with Down syndrome is different.  Some common characteristics include:

• Poor muscle tone;
• Slanting eyes with folds of skin at the inner corners (called epicanthal folds);
• Hyperflexibility (excessive ability to extend the joints);
• Short, broad hands with a single crease across the palm on one or both hands;
• Broad feet with short toes;
• Flat bridge of the nose;
• Short, low-set ears; and
• Short neck and small head;
• Small oral cavity; and/or
• Short, high-pitched cries in infancy.

Individuals with Down syndrome are usually smaller than their nondisabled peers, and their physical as well as intellectual development is slower.