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Help group for ‘forgotten’ kids

23/ 1/2008

A MUM frustrated at the lack of help for parents with Down’s syndrome children has set up a support group.

Vicky Massey, 39, realised there was nowhere in Tameside for families affected by the genetic condition to meet.

Although she has two other healthy children — Ross, 17, and Oscar, three — her five-year-old son Oliver was born with the syndrome, which affects one in every 1,000 babies born in the UK.

She said: "The support you receive while they are toddlers fizzles out once they reach school age.

"I’ve set this up so parents can come along, with their children if they wish, and chat to other mums and dads in the same boat.

"We can share information on things to do, places to go, how to handle problems, the list goes on."

Oliver is in mainstream education at St Paul’s Primary School in Stalybridge where a support worker is on hand to help him day-to-day. As a result, he is coming on leaps and bounds.

Vicky, of Clarence Street, Stalybridge said: "When he started school, he had a mental age of two but his speech has improved tenfold in the past 12 months.

"But he does have problems. He couldn’t walk until he was two-and-a-half, he has low muscle tone, ear and nose problems and his eyesight is poor.

"It’s hard work but it’s also very rewarding, more so than with my other kids. The more you put in the more you get out. It depends on how mild the features are.

"Some Down’s children can sit GCSEs and do reasonably well, others are good at painting and making things. Each one is different."

People with Down’s syndrome have three copies of chromosome 21 rather than two. It changes the finely tuned balance of the body and results in characteristic features of the disorder.

This genetic abnormality was discovered in 1959, almost 100 years after Down’s syndrome was first identified. However, it's still not known why this abnormality occurs.

The Tameside Down’s syndrome support group will meet for the first time at Rowan House, Grange Road North, Hyde on Wednesday 30 January at 1pm.

Regular meetings will take place on the last Wednesday of every month.