The mental impairment shouldn't be understated. We are talking about people that will perpetually need care and supervision.

Don't get me wrong, I think it'd be great if society could give these people more than poverty after their parents die, but as it stands, unless that person was born into wealth they are looking at misery when the state becomes their caretakers.

I have a child with a server mental disability, I love them pieces, but frankly what happens to them after I'm gone is one of my biggest concerns.

That's the hard reality I wish people hand wringing about the ethics of avoiding down syndrome would confront. It's one thing to call them a blessing, but are you going to push and advocate for government spending so these blessings don't end up in a hellhole when they are no longer cute children?

Cochlear implants aren't magical hearing restorers. If they were, you'd be right. But they aren't. There are limitations. Music is especially difficult to perceive properly.

No, that's not why ... it's because the comparison is bogus.

If you never interacted with the residents there, how are you so sure it was so bad? Nevermind the people in the group home — on what basis did you acquire the belief that the neighbors were “relieved” not to interact with them?

Maybe you’re right and this situation was terrible for everyone. Is this arrangement required? Is it the best we can do?

I don’t think most people would choose to live a life with many common afflictions. I certainly wish my lower back didn’t hurt all the time. That doesn’t invalidate my existence, and neither does my son’s Down syndrome invalidate his.

How long ago was this?

I ask because segregation like that was considered standard of care decades ago, but has not been in decades now too, so if it was recent, it's not following current best practices, and if it was long ago, it's worth noting that this is no longer the standard of care, indeed because it wasn't helpful and people would not choose it.

I know a guy who has down syndrome and he is the happiest guy I've ever met. Any time I see him, even if he doesn't see me, he is smiling and just looks like he loves life. When he sees me, or anybody else he knows, he gets the biggest grin on his face. When you talk to him, you can tell he is such a happy guy with no stress.

If that is not a benefit then I'm not sure what is.

There is absolutely no benefit to being many things that some humans are.

Surveys consistently indicate that people with DS, their family members, and people who know them consider their lives better because of it.

That's a benefit.

Cochlear implants are not technically reversible, iirc.

They permanently destroy hair cells of the inner ear during surgery to make direct electrical contact, so removing them won't restore your pre-implant level of hearing.

It's usually a moot point if your hearing's bad enough to be a candidate for implants, tho.