I'm David. I'm Hannah. We have a son, Ethan, who's four years old and a daughter, Amy, who's two. Ethan has Down syndrome and global development delay, so all of his learning and development is slightly behind. He's also got a hearing loss, so he's had hearing aids since he was eight weeks old.
Ethan's speech is delayed, but his understanding is impeccable. Since birth we've been using Makaton and Ethan has always been very keen and excited by Makaton songs and signed stories. So his signing has come on very quickly. He's very confident with that.[
[Sings] And on that farm he had a sheep. Sheep! Ee, I, Ee, I, Oh.
You can see that he's getting the enjoyment now from being able to communicate vocally as well as using Makaton. Ethan goes to mainstream education. He's progressing really well. They're actually really good with him. They put things in place, such as they've all learnt Makaton there.
What are you painting? Is it flowers? Yeah.
They have charts on the wall that Ethan can follow, so he understands what he's doing during his day. He's always part of everything going on, which is so important. Ethan actually is best when there's music around and he's always singing, always signing.
[Sings] If you see a crocodile, don't forget to scream! [Screams] Lion!
It can calm him in situations. It's brilliant because music has rhythm. It has beats, and it's easier for us to get the syllables in when we're talking to him.
[Sings] Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang the drum…and we make lots of noise!
With storybooks, we find storybooks that are rhyming, so that it's easier for him to remember.
An elephant!
Whatever we're doing, we repeat, we're consistent, and for Ethan, that develops his understanding just brilliantly. Green bears. Good boy Ethan.
Routinely, we are seeing him hit those points, those milestones, just at a slower rate and you can see that he's going to get there. Just at his own pace, but when he gets there, from then on he's unstoppable.The diagnosis aside, your child is just your child that you love, you nurture, you want to do the best by your child. You've just got to embrace your child, follow their lead and enjoy the ride, really.
Ready, steady, go!Go!Wow…
Meet David, Hannah, Amy and Ethan, who has Down syndrome and hearing loss.
David and Hannah talk about the ways in which they help Ethan with his language learning and communication skills.
For more information or advice about Down syndrome visit The Down's Syndrome Association.
