Is it normal people with down syndrome scare me?

56% Normal
8 Comments

Warning: lengthy post ahead:

So it wasn’t that long ago that I was in high school. Strangely enough in middle school there were a few kids like this, but most of them you probably couldn’t tell until they started acting weird. But then high school came along and everything changed.

I felt a bit terrible about it at first. I tried to be the best person I could, but after a while I couldn’t deny it: The Down syndrome kids at my high school scared me to death! I know it’ll sound insensitive, but this is true, some of those kids didn’t even look human, and their behavior was best compared to a Zombie or a Frankenstein Monster. Whenever I was near one in the hallway I tried getting away from them as fast as possible. If I accidentally touched one, I’d do this weird thing with the sink water in the bathroom and wash that part of my body. I don’t know what it was, I knew it was irrational, but I didn’t care.

Luckily though they had their separate classes, but one kid had a math class with me, and I’m just glad I didn’t need to sit near him. And this is another thing that’ll sound insensitive, but I had to wonder: what’s even the point of educating them? What could they possibly be taught? It’s just something that doesn’t make sense to me.

But here’s by far the weirdest part of all this: my family members LOVE them! My sister actually worked with the ones in high school, my other sister worked with some at her job, and one of my cousins teaches them at her school, AND my mom has worked with them before. They even find them cute, which honest to God I can’t figure out for the life of me why anyone would think that!

I thought after a while I’d get used to them, and luckily I haven’t been forced to be around too many, but after four years of high school these feelings never went away. I probably sounded horrible, but this is my honest opinion, and I really don’t think it’s any use trying to hide it. A part of me does feel sorry for them, but I still find them scary. They actually contributed to my decision to never have children, as I don’t want to risk bringing someone with that disability into the world, only to have a life like that.

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56% Normal
Based on 25 votes (14 yes)
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Comments ( 8 )
  • Whatintarnation
    4 years ago | pl

    You're right. You do sound horrible. Grow up.

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  • Golias
    4 years ago

    I can't answer your question that simple.

    Being scared of them? It's normal. It's not a normal condition and I also met people with Down syndrome and I always get extremely uncomfortable.

    But being disgusted by them? That's not normal. Implying that they can't be taught? Sorry but that's completely insensitive: they are people with severe conditions but are still trying to live life normally. And they deserve a normal life, just like you and everybody else.

    So, be scared, fine, but respect them. They are human persons like you, they're not inferior beings.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      4 years ago

      It’s not so much viewing them as inferior, but observing their behavior I doubted they lacked enough intelligence to learn that much. But I guess I could be wrong.

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  • RoseIsabella
    4 years ago

    This is probably something that you ought to pray about. I can understand your discomfort, but those kids can't help their intellectual disabilities that they were born with. I'm sure that if given the choice most of those kids would have loved to have been born as normal healthy people with average intelligence.

    I think you ought to pray about this issue, and ask God to grant you understanding.

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  • [Old Memory]
    4 years ago

    I used to be irrationally scared of amputees (I was about 5-7) but then I realized they’re humans, too, and they can’t help being different.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      4 years ago

      Most of the time though, amputees had accidents that lead to them becoming that way and otherwise are completely functional. People with Down syndrome are born that way and their behavior can be unpredictable at times.

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      • [Old Memory]
        4 years ago

        They’re still human though.

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  • Ummitsstillme
    4 years ago

    We must love their big beautiful smiling square heads.

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