Trig and Downs Syndrome: Something doesn't smell right

[cap]

What early intervention is needed for infants with Downs Syndrome?
The whole prospect of Trig being toted around the country just doesn't make sense to me. Aren't Downs Syndrome infants a lot more prone to infection and an assortment of ailments than most? So why is Trig being hauled around a bus, a plane or conventions with lots of potentially infectious people? What about therapy? Isn't that supposed to start early? Who's making sure that Trig sees his doctors and therapists? I heard the First Dude is going to be in charge of this and is taking a leave of absense. But if Trig is jetting around the country, how's he making his doctor's appointments or doing therapy?

[cali]

1. attackin Palin's mothering is about the stupidist thing dems can do.

[cjsmom44]

6. RE: Agreed....

Anyone who thinks that by attacking in this manner is productive is off their rocker...this is what the Repubs want? We will only screw ourselves...

[SmokingJacket]

18. Stupidest thing Obama could do, certainly.

I don't see what difference it makes on an internet forum.

[cali]

29. here's the difference- and we've already seen it.

the MSM focuses on the "irrational hate" the left has for Palin, motherhood and apple pie. The right conflates the left blogosphere with the media, projecting the image that the media is attacking Palin unfairly. Legitimate topics and a coherent line of attack on Palin go down the sinkhole. Now you know.

[SmokingJacket]

31. So... what's the solution, then?

Say we tamp down our "irrational hate." Will the MSM suddenly pay attention to our logical arguments?

I seem to remember the Democrats being painted as complete wimps during 2004. The Republicans were nasty as hell, with their purple heart bandaids and so on. Somehow that was never considered "irrational hate," and somehow, they won.

At this point I think it's up to Obama. It doesn't matter what we, the masses, do or say. If we're nice, we're wimpy; if we attack, we're filled with hate.

Obama has to put out some good ads and make some good speeches, and peel away a few percentage points from the muddled middle.

[secondwind]

2. I THINK THE PALIN FAMILY IS BACK IN ALASKA, AND TRIG IS HAPPILY IN HIS MOTHER'S ARMS

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

9. Huh? No, unless there is a town in Missouri named Alaska. Dream On.......

http://www.kmov.com/localnews/stories/kmov_election_080906_mccainvisit.4ee10f22.html?npc

McCain, Palin return to Missouri on Monday

State could swing election either way

07:50 PM CDT on Saturday, September 6, 2008

By John Mills
KMOV-TV

[secondwind]

3. TRIG IS IN ALASKA, HAPPILY IN HIS MOTHER'S ARMS

[renie408]

7. YOU DON'T HAVE TO USE ALL CAPS. IT'S RUDE...and speaking of something smelling...n/t

[secondwind]

15. sorry about the caps...........I am new to this, although my daughter has been on DU for years

again, I apologize........

I am not young, and not as "hip" as you folks on DU!

[renie408]

26. I am not all that hip. It is considered shouting if you use all caps on a message board.

And if you use phrases like 'happily in his mother's arms' in relationship to Sarah Palin and her children, you are going to get ratted out as a freeper troll. You may not actually BE a freeper troll and while Sarah Palin's children might be happy in their mother's arms, saying so could be construed as troll-ish.

[greguganus]

34. MAYBE SHE MEANT THE DAUGHTER IS THE MOTHER AND SHE'S IN ALASKA WITH TRIG.

I'M NOT HIP EITHER!

[JVS]

27. TRIG IS BEING USED AS A HUMAN PROP IN HIS MOTHER'S CAMPAIGN AND THIS SHOWS A LACK OF CONCERN WITH...

HIS WELL-BEING. A LACK OF CONCERN THAT WAS ALREADY DEMONSTRATED WHEN HIS MOTHER CHOSE TO TRAVEL EXTENSIVELY DURING LABOR.

[Undercurrent]

4. This site should answer your questions:

National Down Syndrome Society

Early Intervention & Down Syndrome
http://www1.ndss.org/index.php?Itemid=235&id=1935&option=com_content&task=view

Associated Conditions
http://www1.ndss.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=category§ionid=12&id=49&Itemid=119

[leftofcool]

5. DS babies are no different than other babies

who need tender loving care and medical treatments as needed. Attacking Palin's mothering skills is stupid.

[cap]

11. It seems common sense that a delicate child needs to be in one place

I can understand if First Dude parked himself in Alaska or Washington DC or some central place and had the doctors' and therapists' visits... I'm mean, really, how's this supposed to work?

Monday, Wisconsin. Tuesday, Colorado. Wednesday, back to Alaska to see the doctor. Thursday, Pennsylvania. Friday, back to Alaska to see the therapist. Saturday, on the road again... etc.

I mean, even if First Dude and the nanny are handling everything for her...how's this all going to happen?

[mamalone]

19. Do we even know for sure that she has a nanny?

I can't for the life of me find any firm info on what kind of childcare arrangements the family has... and I'm curious.

[DoctorMyEyes]

14. I respectfully disagree

And I'm not talking about the care she's providing or not providing for her infant's DS. I'm talking about the callousness of hiding the fact that she was pregnant from her own children. And springing her candidacy for VP on them without a family discussion of what it would mean. Of issuing a press release announcing her daughters pregnancy to the world, ostensibly to quell rumors about herself.

Yes - the issues and her pro-life stance are more important, but issues can be kind of abstract for too many voters. People who vote on their "feelings" - or how they think they can relate to a candidate.

Yes - any family can find themselves in a situation like the Palins are in, but how many would handle it so selfishly? Few people can relate to someone who treats their own family with as if their needs or feelings do not even factor into their own ambitions.

I'd like for the "average joe" voter to look beyond the nice family photos and realize that this woman hid the pending arrival of a special needs child from her family and then didn't even discuss with her children what they would be in store for before accepting the nomination. She issued a press release about her daughters pregnancy (after hiding her own for 7 months!) within days of springing the whole "by the way, we lied about flying you here for an anniversary party - we're going on the campaign trail instead!" on her children.

[mamalone]

17. Actually, yes, they are different than other babies...

Most infants with Down syndrome have a compromised immune system which makes them very susceptible to infections, and once they do become sick they get very sick, very quickly. The other issue that the OP mentioned is the need for early intervention... and they were absolutely right. The first year of life for a child with Ds is critical to their functioning level for the rest of their life. Most infants begin formal therapy very early on, certainly by Trig's age.

I have two children with Down syndrome and when they were infants their immune systems were very very weak. I did bring them out places, of course- by that age they were getting several different types of therapies. But, I was extremely careful about where they went, and who they were in contact with. Never... and I do mean never, were they handed around from person to person, and the largest crowd they were ever in was a church service. I would occasionally let others hold them, but only after they had carefully washed their hands, and they always had a blanket between themselves and the baby. You might think I am over protective, but I wasn't all that unusual. If you have a kid with a health concern, you do what you need to do to keep them healthy.

While I do agree that attacking Palin's mothering skills is not going to benefit us, pretending that she is doing a nifty keen job of mothering is rather silly, IMO.



edited to deal with excess verbiage

[renie408]

8. This dog just ain't gonna fight. We need to get back to the REAL issues. n/t

[cwydro]

10. Not an issue and btw, there is no "s" on the end of Down. nt

[cap]

12. There's a point where the whole narrative just doesn't make sense

You have a teenage pregnant daughter who's getting married soon, a son gone off to Iraq, a Down Syndrome baby. Like, really, how's this all going to happen? I just don't get the logistics. Even if First Dude is stepping up to the plate, there's too much going on here once you put the story together. Each one of these is doable by themselves for a busy executive. My point has nothing to do with attacking the ability of mothers in general to balance any one of these issues with a busy work schedule that requires travel. But all together? Like Noonan said, this is just a narrative... just a story. Reality is something different.

[kath]

39. That's generally true in the US, but not in the UK.

"In 1975, the United States National Institutes of Health convened a conference to standardize the nomenclature of malformations. They recommended eliminating the possessive form: "The possessive use of an eponym should be discontinued, since the author neither had nor owned the disorder."<59> Although both the possessive and non-possessive forms are used in the general population, Down syndrome is the accepted term among professionals in the USA, Canada and other countries; Down's syndrome is still used in the United Kingdom and other areas.<60 " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_syndrome[br />


"Many medical conditions and diseases have been named after a person; this type of name is called an eponym. There has been a long-standing debate in the scientific community over whether or not to add the possessive form to the names of eponyms. For quite a long time, there was no established rule as to which to use, but general usage decided which form is acceptable. So you saw both possessive and non-possessive names in use.
In 1974, a conference at the US National Institute of Health attempted to make a standard set of rules regarding the naming of diseases and conditions. This report, printed in the journal Lancet, stated: "The possessive form of an eponym should be discontinued, since the author neither had nor owned the disorder."(7) Since that time, the name has traditionally been called "Down syndrome" in North America (note that "syndrome" isn't capitalized). However, the change has taken longer to occur in Great Britain and other parts of Europe" http://www.ds-health.com/name.htm



It's not clear to me why people make such a BIG DEAL about the name here. We still use the names Hodgkin's disease, Parkinson's disease, Crohn's disease, Huntington's disease, Paget's disease, Kaposi's sarcoma, Asperger's syndrome and on and on.

Yes, that 1974 or 1975 conference said to drop the "'s" in eponymous disease names. But more than 30 years later, "Medical journals, dictionaries and style guides remain divided on this issue". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_eponymous_diseases


So chill, y'all. I'm not sure we need one or more posts in *every single thread* about someone with Trisomy 21 quibbling about the darned "'s".

Yeesh.

[cwydro]

43. Well then. use the damn apostrophe.

Sheesh. But get it right, one way or the other.

[Statistical]

13. Why go there?

All it will do is (rightly so) piss off the female pundits on the networks. Add to that the right will feign "outrage" over the sexist behavior, blah, blah.

Attack her on the issues. She has plenty of valid political faults.

[JaneQPublic]

16. The bigger crime is naming her two sons "Trig" and "Track"

Sounds much too similar to "Frick and Frack."

[renie408]

28. LOL...But isn't it a gift that her kids aren't all named straight out of the bible?? n/t

[EmilyAnne]

20. Look, I understand where you are coming from and personally I agree with everything you have

written here. I also don't understand why the Republican side doesn't see it this way. You know that if Michelle Obama had a special needs infant, there would be screaming about that from the right. And, she wouldn't have to be running for anything.

The problem is, there is absolutely one hundred percent no chance in hell that anyone will ever uncover any incriminating secrets about Sarah Palin's fifth pregnancy or Trig.
What this sort of thing does is play into the bogus republican/ Ann Coulter / Rush Limbaugh claim that we HATE babies and families.
Our pro-choice stance has been hijacked by these people to make us all look like gleeful baby murderers. The right media and politicians are intentionally misleading on the topic of abortion, BUT your average voter sincerely believes these things. The more we discuss about Palin's pregnancies and family structure, the angrier people will get.

I think the only discussion of Palin and pregnancy should be about the full-term pregnancies she wants to force on the victims of rape and incest. Also, we need to harp on the unwanted pregnancies that Palin's abstinence only policies will lead to. These two more extreme policies will not sit well with many who lean pro-life. We need to stick with them until they become talking points.

Just my opinion, of course.

[MorningGlow]

21. DS doesn't enter into it

No 4- or 5-month-old infant should be hauled around the country like a sack of potatoes and kept up late at night (and no, sleeping at a 45-degree angle on his "sister's" chest doesn't count), being used as a prop just to further his mother's political ambitions.

Take the kid with you so he can be with his "mother", but 1) get a full-time babysitter (even a family member), 2) buy a frickin' stroller where the kid can lie down for his many naps, and 3) let the child sleep in a crib starting around 7 p.m.

** I am a mother and I approve my scolding message. **

[Arkansas Granny]

35. I am a mother, grandmother and great grandmother who wholeheartedly agrees

and approves of your scolding message. If suitable arrangements can be made to fit baby's needs and routines, I don't think the traveling in itself would be harmful to him. That being said, I would like to remind Gov. Palin that a baby is not an accessory.

[MorningGlow]

36. Thanks, AK Granny!

I didn't think it would be expecting too much, to have the family accommodate a tiny infant, special needs or not, with a place to relax and play and a decent bedtime. Then again, I get majorly peeved at parents who drag their kids to restaurants at 7 p.m. or later when they should be in bed (late nap or not!)

One more question: WTF is up with how Sarah and Bristol hold the kid? They're always turning him out to face the crowd and have an arm under his butt and one across his chest. Looks terrible uncomfortable for him. But such is the life of a prop, right? :eyes:

[glancingthefuture]

22. Used to that only RW fanantics nosed into other peoples lives. Now we

have the Left doing it. The babe came for the nomination. Do you any proof he is be "toted around the country"?
If not -let it alone. It does the Dems no good for us to be starting vile mothering rumors.

[mwb970]

24. Wasn't the baby at the RNC?

St. Paul is a long way from Moose Hollow.

[glancingthefuture]

25. We all saw him with his family at the RNC in St. Paul. Where else

has he been?

[alcibiades_mystery]

23. Why do you even care? This isn't a goddamn TV show

[krkaufman]

30. Her professional background is rife with red meat and controversy

The family/motherhood angle would seem to be counterproductive in so many ways.

[cap]

33. I'm not sure I would agree

I am in a swing county in PA and what concerns our swing women voters is exactly this kind of stuff. That's where the doubt about Sarah begins. A lot of people are taken in by the "narrative"... aka story... and the "personna" ("I like her... she's gutsy"). There's not as much debate on the issues -- sad to say... it makes me wonder where we have come to as a country. People are not necessarily voting their wallet... if it were, this election would be a slam dunk. What seems to work is doubt and then a pivot onto the disparity between her platform and her personal life as well as a generalization about how her policies would then apply to you and how you don't want to be in Sarah's predicament.

I am seeing a lot of people reach for Palin because they can identify with her. You would have thought that with the debacles of GW and Schwartzenegger that people would have learned that it's not the guy that they would like to go out and have a drink with but the guy with the ability to deliver the best policies that would matter.

Leaving Palin strictly alone (as I think the campaign should be fought) leaves a vacuum.

[krkaufman]

37. Oh, I'm not talking about limiting the conversation to her thoughts on energy independence.

I think the issues aren't going to matter when it comes to Palin, all that much. We need to focus on dismantling the image they've constructed, by outing her lies and controversies in her professional career (while steering clear of her personal/family life). The exceptions, of course, are where he profession and personal lives crossed, as in Troopergate.

I feel like I need to develop a list of all her lies, exaggerations and controversies, before my head explodes trying to track it all.

a very brief e.g. ....

Abuse of Power
- (Troopergate) Fired public safety head due to his unwillingness to carry out a personal vendetta against Palin's brother-in-law
- Deceived public on results of scientific review of effects of climate change on polar bears

Loyalty over competence (the "heckuva job, Brownie" category)
- (Troopergate) Replaced much-respected commission head with crony having a documented sexual harassment past
- Loyalty letters and subsequent firings on taking office as mayor of Alaska
- Tried to fire the town's LIBRARIAN!!

Science denial
- Abstinence-only education; studies show that a-o education is a failure; comprehensive sex-ed, including abstinence, is needed to prevent pregnancies, STDs
- Suppressed findings of scientific review of climate change effects on polar bears, and published contrary findings
- Evolution? vs Creationism? (unknown stance)

Mismanagement
- Took Wasilla from ZERO debt to $22+ million in 6 short years as mayor
- Legal issues surrounding sports arena
- Forced to hire a manager to assist with running city, after early controversies

Pluralism vs Fundamentalism
- Pursued banning of books from Wasilla library as mayor

???
- VECO money
- Alaska National Guard facing personnel crisis
- Wasilla has become the meth capital of Alaska

[DoctorMyEyes]

38. I agree with you

Too many people vote on feelings rather than issues. Even if they flat out disagree with Palin's stance on a particular issue they still might support her if they "relate" to her, or think she's a good person who really wouldn't act on her own policies.

Most of us here and on other political boards are policy wonks and understand and are not bored by the nitty gritty of political policy. And a lot of us come to places like DU because when you try to talk about these things with most (not all, for sure!) people that you know they get a glazed over look in their eyes.

But, everybody - and I mean EVERYBODY except the right wing water carriers understands that not involving your family in MAJOR decisions that will effect their lives is pretty freakin' low! Every parent I know has invested a lot of thought and time into preparing their children for the arrival of a new sibling. Not Sarah or Todd Palin!

No parent I know has or would ever consider issuing a PRESS RELEASE announcing their teenage daughters pregnancy to the world in order to combat a rumor about themselves! Nor would they put her under that kind of microscope without at the very least taking the time to see how she really felt about being hung out to dry like that - at 17!

Everyone I know - politically savvy or not, wonkish or not - "gets" that this is horrible parenting. And it's not much of a leap as a voter to imagine that if she doesn't even trust or respect her family before making MAJOR decisions about what's going to happen to them what are the chances that she is going to give a shit about including the wants or needs of the American people in her policy decisions?

I'm not talking about her kids. Her kids, as far as I'm concerned are off limits. I'm talking about HER and the way she decides things for other people. And the most UNIVERSALLY appalling example of that is her callous disregard for her own family.

[cap]

42. I hate to say it but the soccer moms

glom onto the whole motherhood issues and, as retrograde as it is (yeah, I know... isn't this what we are fighting against) are judging her on her abilities as a mother.

Bristol's pregnancy is a huge doubting point for these women. A lot of them can disregard her hypocrisy between her platform of abstinence and what actually happened in her family, but for a lot of women, they aren't too keen on a teenage pregnant daughter.

You end up with a lot of tortured logic where the women rationalize that in a small town, you "have to get married"... (didn't we fight against this years ago... not to praise teen pregnancy... but we did get rid of shotgun marriages...). I mean the conversations can get pretty weird.

The same thing with Trig....there's a lot of hypocrisy between her method of child care (one could argue that's what a successful career woman should be allowed to do, ie delegate the day to day to someone else. Even when that child is very needy), what a mother should be doing, what she can do at taxpayer expense, what she can do because of her income level, and public policy.

Start walking through what's happening in her life as an exhibit of what adequate child care policies for the disabled should be and you'll see a lot of contradictions.

I'm really not sure that there is any mother that has a disabled child that flies that child around the country with them on multi-city business trips.

The soccer moms aren't grasping these issues in the abstract -- they are looking at them in a visceral fashion. I've tried talking about things the way that you suggest and it's not sticking. I've had the sports complex rationalized as a job creation machine that would help the meth addicts.

[regnaD kciN]

32. The fact that we're still posting threads on this subject...

...is what doesn't smell right.

Face it, Palin is a sideshow. And not only should families be given their privacy, but Palin's family is merely a sideshow of a sideshow.

McCain is our target.

[breakaleg]

40. What kind of therapy can a 4 month old participate in?

[Pathwalker]

41. When babies don't smell right, it's diaper changing time - after a bath.

n/t