11 Nov Have you been told that your little one with Down Syndrome will not walk or talk until they are 3 or 4 years old

Have you been told that your little one with Down Syndrome will not walk or talk until they are 3 or 4 years old
Wondering what does the future hold for your child with Down Syndrome

It is estimated that approximately 1 in every 1100 babies born in Australia will have Down syndrome. This means that each year there are approximately 290 new babies born each year who have Down syndrome. Many parents are told that their baby with Down Syndrome will have various medical complications such as heart problems, intellectual delay, speech delay and may not be able to walk until they are 3 to 4 years old.

Few parents are told that with Early Intervention their child with Down Syndrome will be able to walk by 18 months old and achieve all their speech and fine motor milestones like every other typically developing child.

Here at My Favourite Physio, our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapists have been helping many babies with Down Syndrome achieve independent walking by 18 months old. Our latest graduate from Early Intervention Physiotherapy is Master N, who started Physiotherapy at 3 months old. His parents were committed and determined to help him achieve his potential and we worked hard to help him learn to roll, sit, crawl, pull to stand and walk. There were times where Master N would cry and protest, because it was hard work learning a new skill. Just like anyone who’s started a new gym workout program. However with consistent practice, he soon masters the new skill. 

Fast forward 15 months later, Master N is able stand up from the ground without any support and is now walking independently happily exploring his environment. We are now working on climbing up and down steps and getting better balance to run in the next 6 months. Our goal for Master N is to achieve all his developmental milestones so he is be able to enter a mainstream school at 5 years old. 

So if you have a child with Down Syndrome, don’t believe the common myth that your child will not walk or talk until they are 3years old! Instead ring My Favourite Physio on (02) 9790 4233 or DM us @myfavouritephysio to start Early Intervention Physiotherapy today!