A question about those with the Down's Syndrome

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Would you say that on average, those with the Down's Syndrome have better or worse social skills than those with high function autism/Asperger's?

I often compare myself to those with the Down's Syndrome, because it seems like while I have more or less well-functioning cognitive skills, my social skills are about as good (maybe just a little bit better) as those of a person with the Down's Syndrome. I concluded that after seeing the way those with the DS socialize with the NTs.

I wouldn't say they are better or worse, because it would depend on each particular person and how their disorder effects them. What I would say is that any lack of social skills that a person with Down's has is more likely to be accepted by others because they have an obvious disorder which can be seen, while AS doesn't manifest itself in any physical form that can be observed and catagorized in every person. In other words, someone can look at them and think "Oh, they have Down's" and then start with lower expectations.

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As I have found from learning about Downs and meeting lots of people with it, each person, although they share physical characteristics, is completely different. I think that Downs is almost on a spectrum of its own. There are some people with Downs who can't walk, talk or do anything for themselves, then there are others who lead pretty much independent lives. One of the guys I met had severe behavioural issues along with his Downs and sometimes got violent. The girl I met at the same place was sweet and friendly and wouldn't hurt a fly. Also, some people with Downs have AS/autism as a side-diagnosis. I would say that the higher functioning people with Downs are more social on average though although they might come across a bit childish when they speak.

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I have HFA, ADHD, OCD & Tourette syndrome. I love animals, especially my bunnies and hamster. I skate in a roller derby team (but I'll try not to bite )

I've met quite a few people with Down's Syndrome. On a special needs camp I once went on, there were two girls with Down's who were cousins. They were both 17, but they acted like they were 5. They could walk and talk, but they couldn't have a proper conversations with anyone, not even to eachother. They would just giggle and muck about all the time, and they needed to be watched all the time because they would run off and get lost if they weren't being looked after properly.

Then there was another girl with Down's who was 18, and she was more grown-up. She was very independant and serious, but she had a lot of health issues with her heart (which is common in those with Down's). She could interact quite well to other people, including me, but she always spoke in a monotone voice and she was very honest all the time. But she was so calm - she she was good at expressing her feelings in a very laid-back way, and she was interested in things most typical 18-year-olds are. But she said she doesn't have many friends, and I can tell she is a little socially awkward, even though she was mature and calm and self-aware. I sometimes speak to her on Facebook now. She is 22 now, but has never had a boyfriend, which she feels upset about.

Then I used to work with a 20-year-old girl with Down's. She was high-functioning too, and was quick with her work (she stacked shelves in a small supermarket), and she was quick on picking things up. But she was also socially awkward in some way. At her lunch hour she was always sitting on her own and not with the other girls in the canteen, or she used to go out at lunch and meet her mum in the town. She did have speech delays too, but I found her OK.

I think all conditions can make the person a bit socially awkward, but not in the same way as Aspies. It's too complex to explain.

The two with Down's syndrome and a mild cognitive delay/mild mental retardation who I interacted with for a longer time - a first-grader and someone my age - both had way better affective empathy and more "intuitive" cognitive empathy.

Although their low IQ negatively affected their social skills in comparison to the average person, they still knew a lot better what to say when and knew so much better how to fit in than me without having to actively think about how to behave/respond/talk during each moment in company.

Socialization does vary among everybody. I have met a few Down's Syndrome people over the years, and they were each different that way. There was a girl living some houses away from me when I was growing up. I didn't have much to do with her because she was several years younger, but I did see her sometimes. She was very nice, friendly, and sociable. Her chief drawback was a bad speech impediment. Even with that, it was obvious that she was a high functioning Down's Syndrome child. Sometime when she was in her teens or early twenties, someone told me that she was doing baby sitting work. I moved away a few years after that, but I am glad she was doing so well.

Yeah, some of them are good at it, some not. But in my experience they are extroverts just as often, or maybe even more often than, NTs are. So, maybe they are more driven to interact, just like NTs are driven to interact, and get more practice?