Trisomy 21

What we can learn from people with Down syndrome

By (author) André Frank Zimpel Contributions by Kim Lena Hurtig-Bohn Contributions by Angela Kalmutzke Contributions by Torben Rieckmann Contributions by Alfred Christoph Röhm Translated by

Book cover: Trisomy 21

Extent: 216 pages

Publisher: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht

Subjects: Psychology, Psychoanalysis, & Psychotherapy

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(July 2016)

ISBN: 9783525701966

9.13 x 6.1 inches

Price: $35.00

In stock

For a long time, it was assumed that a genetic disposition such as trisomy 21 enables predictions to be made about overall personality development. But who could have ever imagined that people with trisomy 21 (Down syndrome) would also be capable of earning a university degree? This book presents the results of having examined 1,294 people with trisomy 21. The results showed that people with trisomy 21 benefit more from abstract learning than their neurotypical counterparts and two-year-olds with the syndrome learn first to read and only then to speak — and they understand algebra better than arithmetic. Ignorance of neurodiversity inevitably leads to learning difficulties when learning at the same pace as others. This applies to autism and trisomy 21 to the same extent. That’s why this book advocates the recognition of trisomy 21 as a variant in the spectrum of human neurodiversity.

  • By (author) André Frank Zimpel
  • Contributions by Kim Lena Hurtig-Bohn
  • Contributions by Angela Kalmutzke
  • Contributions by Torben Rieckmann
  • Contributions by Alfred Christoph Röhm
  • Translated by