In my country people with Down syndrome often live in housing together in suburban areas, with a social worker keeping an eye on things (independent living) or a carer available 24/7. They do sports, catch the bus, go to neighbourhood bbqs etc.

Your depiction of a person with downs is not representative of the majority.

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dana-s an hour ago | parent | next [-]

> In my country > Your depiction of a person with downs is not representative of the majority.

It may be for a different country, both experiences are valid to hear. In my country as far as I know it doesn't happen like yours.

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Forgeties79 42 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I’m fairly certain your depiction is not representative of the majority experience throughout the world.

I can’t say for 100% certain but I struggle to believe what you’re describing is more common than not. That strikes me as a level of support provided by the state that most people with ds - and their family - do not enjoy throughout the world.

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teruakohatu 20 minutes ago | parent [-]

> I can’t say for 100% certain but I struggle to believe what you’re describing is more common than not.

This is absolutely common in New Zealand.

I think treating people with dignity, respect and part of the community is as important as state financial support.

Our government will also subsidise wages in certain industries for people with certain disabilities. So it’s common for people with intellectual disabilities to be working at supermarkets.

	▲	Forgeties79 15 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Never questioned if it was common in New Zealand. I’m sure some countries have great support, and others do not. But in the aggregate, most people in the world simply do not have that level of support. So the conversation needs to be calibrated with that in mind. Remember the original context here: someone talked about what they experienced and then you came in questioning it saying how wonderful the support you see is, then said what they experienced is not the majority experience, when the reality is quite the opposite actually. The support you are seeing is what is actually uncommon worldwide. New Zealand is exceptional here.

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inglor_cz an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

I am not an expert on Downs kids to know how majority looks like (are you?) Here in CZ, I knew of one preCovid cafe that employed adult Downs as waiters, and they absolutely needed supervision most of the time - cannot take the complicated Prague public transport alone. Maybe it is different in rural settings where there is just one bus line that never changes its course.

That said, prospective parents usually don't make their decisions to abort or not to abort on an expected median outcome, but some of the more pessimistic-but-realistic scenarios.