Hi, I'm Harps and this is Preetam. We're parents to Arjun and Saajan. Arjun is five and Saajan is two and a half and he happens to have Down syndrome.
Hey, have you got a lion, Saajan? Raa!Raa! Ha ha!
One of the things with Down syndrome is that there is a speech delay and often this is related to low muscle tone. So, Saajan having Down syndrome doesn't really change his communication, it changes the way we communicate with him.
And what's this, Saajan? Raa! Raa, dinosaur!
My advice would be to keep things very simple with your language and to use visual aids. So we make our own flash cards based on what we can see Saajan is interested in.
Banana! Good boy.
To take that time and just to watch him just be part of his journey and then spending enough time with someone allows you to understand what it is they want.
He's got a big personality and although he can't speak that many word he's able to communicate so amazingly and even strangers will come up to us and tell us how he's just brightened up their day just with his smile. Since having Saajan, it really does feel we've been given a far greater purpose in life. He just brings us so much joy and life feels so much more enriched and joyful since he's come along.
Meet Harps, Preetam and their sons Arjun and Saajan.
Saajan has Down syndrome. Harps and Preetam describe how they help him with his speech and language learning by changing the ways they communicate with him, using visual aids and paying special attention to what he's interested in.
For more information or advice on Down syndrome visit The Down's Syndrome Association.
