This is a list of people with Down syndrome, a condition also known as Down's syndrome or trisomy 21. Down syndrome is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. [1] It is typically associated with developmental delays, characteristic physical features, and mild to moderate intellectual disability. [2] The average IQ of a young adult with Down syndrome is 50, equivalent to the mental age of an 8- or 9-year-old child, but this number varies widely. [3] At the same time, they enjoy a rich social and emotional awareness. [4] Down syndrome is the most common chromosome abnormality in humans, [3] occurring in about one per 1000 babies born each year. [2]
Names | Details | Lifespan | Country | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ángela Bachiller | Spain's first city councillor with Down syndrome | b. 1983 | ![]() | [5] |
Edward Barbanell | Actor who starred in The Ringer | b. 1977 | ![]() | [6] |
Sam Barnard | Actor and reality star who appeared on The Suspicions of Mr Whicher and The Undateables | b. 1985 | ![]() | [7] |
Jay Beatty | Celtic F.C. fan | b. 2003 | ![]() | [8] |
Jamie Brewer | Actress who appeared in American Horror Story: Murder House and American Horror Story: Coven | b. 1985 | ![]() | [9] |
Chris Burke | Actor and folk singer, best known for his role in Life Goes On as character Charles "Corky" Thacher | b. 1965 | ![]() | [10] |
Sujeet Desai | Multi-instrumentalist who has performed in over 13 countries and almost all states, first person with Down syndrome to play in Carnegie Hall. | b. circa 1983 | ![]() | [11] |
Collette Divitto | Entrepreneur who started Collettey's Cookies | b. 1990 | ![]() | [12] |
Pascal Duquenne | Actor who won the Best Actor Award at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival for his role in The Eighth Day | b. 1970 | ![]() | [13] [14] [15] |
Heidi Crowter | Disability rights advocate | ![]() | [16] | |
Andrea Fay Friedman | Actress who appeared in Life Goes On and the Family Guy episode "Extra Large Medium" | 1970-2023 | ![]() | [17] |
Karen Gaffney | Disability rights campaigner and the first living person with Down syndrome to receive an honorary doctorate degree | b. 1977 | ![]() | [18] |
Mar Galcerán | Member of the Corts Valencianes | b. 1978 or 1979 | ![]() | [19] |
Anne de Gaulle | Youngest child of Charles and Yvonne de Gaulle | 1928–1948 | ![]() | [20] |
Marin Gerrier | Actor who was nominated for a Genie Award for his role in Café de Flore | Unknown | ![]() | [21] |
Marte Wexelsen Goksøyr | Actress, playwright, writer and disability rights activist | b. 1982 | ![]() | [22] |
Ellie Goldstein | Model who has appeared on the cover of British Vogue | b. 2001 | ![]() | [23] [24] |
Sarah Gordy | Actress who has appeared in Upstairs Downstairs and Call the Midwife | b. 1976 | ![]() | [25] [26] |
Zack Gottsagen | Actor with the leading role in Peanut Butter Falcon and first presenter in the history of the Academy Awards with Down syndrome | b. 1985 | ![]() | [27] |
Sandra Jensen | The first person with Down syndrome to receive a heart-lung transplant | d. 1997 | ![]() | [28] |
Tommy Jessop | Actor who starred in Coming Down the Mountain and with Blue Apple Theatre | b. 1985 | ![]() | [29] [30] |
Jason Kingsley | Actor who appeared in 55 episodes of Sesame Street | b. 1974 | ![]() | [31] |
Éléonore Laloux | Disability rights activist, France's first municipal councillor and recipient of the Ordre national du Mérite | b. 1985 | ![]() | [32] |
Laz-D | Rapper | b. 1982 | ![]() | [33] |
Joey Moss | Edmonton Oilers locker room attendant | 1963–2020 | ![]() | [34] |
Chris Nikic | First person with Down syndrome to complete an Ironman triathlon | b. 1999 | ![]() | [35] |
Pablo Pineda | Actor who starred in the film Yo También and first student with Down syndrome in Europe to obtain a degree | b. 1974 | ![]() | [36] |
Lauren Potter | Actress who played Becky Jackson in Glee | b. 1990 | ![]() | [37] |
Gloria Ramos | Actress who starred in Champions, first intellectually disabled Goya Awards nominee | b. 1993 | ![]() | [38] |
Paula Sage | BAFTA Scotland award-winning actress who appeared in AfterLife | b. c. 1980 | ![]() | [39] [40] |
Sofia Sanchez | Actress, appeared in 2023 The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes | b. c. 2009 | ![]() | [41] |
Robbie Savage | Football fan and socialite. Official mascot of the Brave Warriors, Namibia's national football team | 1967–2017 | ![]() | [42] |
Judith Scott | Outsider sculptor and fiber artist | 1943–2005 | ![]() | [43] |
Sanna Sepponen | Actress known for her role in Salatut elämät | b. 1977 | ![]() | [44] |
Frank Stephens | Disability advocate who testified before US Congress in 2017 to explain that he regarded the abortion of fetuses with Down syndrome as immoral. | b. 1982 | ![]() | [45] |
Madeline Stuart | Model who walked at New York Fashion Week, hailed as the first professional model with Down syndrome | b. 1996 | ![]() | [46] |
Madison Tevlin | Actress, talk show host | Unknown | ![]() | [47] |
Isabella Springmuhl Tejada | First fashion designer with Down syndrome to be featured in London Fashion Week | b. 1997 | ![]() | [11] |
Tim, the "Oldenburg Baby" | An infant who was born after an unsuccessful abortion attempt and subsequently fostered | 1997–2019 | ![]() | [48] |
Ali Topaloğlu | World and European champion track and field athlete | b. 1998 | ![]() | [49] |
Luke Zimmerman | Actor who starred in The Secret Life of the American Teenager | b. 1979 | ![]() | [37] |
Down syndrome or Down's syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is usually associated with developmental delays, mild to moderate intellectual disability, and characteristic physical features. There are three types of Down syndrome, the most common being trisomy 21. Mosaic Down syndrome accounts for two per cent of Down syndrome cases, and Translocation Down syndrome accounts for three per cent of cases.
A genetic disorder is a health problem caused by one or more abnormalities in the genome. It can be caused by a mutation in a single gene (monogenic) or multiple genes (polygenic) or by a chromosome abnormality. Although polygenic disorders are the most common, the term is mostly used when discussing disorders with a single genetic cause, either in a gene or chromosome. The mutation responsible can occur spontaneously before embryonic development, or it can be inherited from two parents who are carriers of a faulty gene or from a parent with the disorder. When the genetic disorder is inherited from one or both parents, it is also classified as a hereditary disease. Some disorders are caused by a mutation on the X chromosome and have X-linked inheritance. Very few disorders are inherited on the Y chromosome or mitochondrial DNA.
The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the Games of the Paralympiad, is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, are held almost immediately following the respective Olympic Games. All Paralympic Games are governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
Savant syndrome is a phenomenon where someone demonstrates exceptional aptitude in one domain, such as art or mathematics, despite significant social or intellectual impairment.
Trisomy 18, also known as Edwards syndrome, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of a third copy of all or part of chromosome 18. Many parts of the body are affected. Babies are often born small and have heart defects. Other features include a small head, small jaw, clenched fists with overlapping fingers, and severe intellectual disability.
Irene Ayako Uchida, was a Canadian scientist and Down syndrome researcher.
Hypertrichosis is an abnormal amount of hair growth over the body. The two distinct types of hypertrichosis are generalized hypertrichosis, which occurs over the entire body, and localized hypertrichosis, which is restricted to a certain area. Hypertrichosis can be either congenital or acquired later in life. The excess growth of hair occurs in areas of the skin with the exception of androgen-dependent hair of the pubic area, face, and axillary regions.
Developmental disability is a diverse group of chronic conditions, comprising mental or physical impairments that arise before adulthood. Developmental disabilities cause individuals living with them many difficulties in certain areas of life, especially in "language, mobility, learning, self-help, and independent living". Developmental disabilities can be detected early on and persist throughout an individual's lifespan. Developmental disability that affects all areas of a child's development is sometimes referred to as global developmental delay.
Neurodevelopmental disorders are a group of conditions that begin to emerge during childhood. According to the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, (DSM-5) published in 2013, these conditions generally appear in early childhood, usually before children start school, and can persist into adulthood. The key characteristic of all these disorders is that they negatively impact a person's functioning in one or more domains of life depending on the disorder and deficits it has caused. All of these disorders and their levels of impairment exist on a spectrum, and affected individuals can experience varying degrees of symptoms and deficits, despite having the same diagnosis.
Hillary Scott is an American former pornographic actress. She won the 2007 XRCO, AFWG, and AVN Female Performer of the Year Awards and the NightMoves and AVN Award for Best Actress. In 2016, she was inducted into the XRCO Hall of Fame. In 2024, she was inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame.
Chromosome 15 is one of the 23 pairs of chromosomes in humans. People normally have two copies of this chromosome. Chromosome 15 spans about 99.7 million base pairs and represents between 3% and 3.5% of the total DNA in cells. Chromosome 15 is an acrocentric chromosome, with a very small short arm, which contains few protein coding genes among its 19 million base pairs. It has a larger long arm that is gene rich, spanning about 83 million base pairs.
Russell Alan Barkley is a retired American clinical neuropsychologist who was a clinical professor of psychiatry at the VCU Medical Center until 2022 and an author of books on attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Involved in research since 1973 and a licensed psychologist since 1977, he is an expert on ADHD and has devoted much of his scientific career to studying ADHD and related fields like childhood defiance. He proposed the renaming of sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) to concentration deficit disorder (CDD) and later cognitive disengagement syndrome (CDS).
Desvenlafaxine, sold under the brand name Pristiq among others, is a medication used to treat depression. It is an antidepressant of the serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) class and is taken by mouth. It is recommended that the need for further treatment be occasionally reassessed. It may be less effective than its parent compound venlafaxine, although some studies have found comparable efficacy.
The genetics and abortion issue is an extension of the abortion debate and the disability rights movement. Since the advent of forms of prenatal diagnosis, such as amniocentesis and ultrasound, it has become possible to detect the presence of congenital disorders in the fetus before birth. Specifically, disability-selective abortion is the abortion of fetuses that are found to have non-fatal mental or physical defects detected through prenatal testing. Many prenatal tests are now considered routine, such as testing for Down syndrome. Women who are discovered to be carrying fetuses with disabilities are often faced with the decision of whether to abort or to prepare to parent a child with disabilities.
Shelley Lubben was an American author, singer, motivational speaker, and pornographic actress. As a performer in the adult film industry, she was known professionally as Roxy. After she left the sex industry, Lubben became a born-again Christian and anti-pornography activist. From 2008 to 2016, she was the executive director of Pink Cross Foundation, which reached out to women and men in pornography and spoke in public forums about the hazardous working conditions that she experienced in the porn industry. In January 2016, Lubben closed Pink Cross Foundation.
Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability and formerly mental retardation, is a generalized neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant impairment in intellectual and adaptive functioning that is first apparent during childhood. Children with intellectual disabilities typically have an intelligence quotient (IQ) below 70 and deficits in at least two adaptive behaviors that affect everyday, general living. According to the DSM-5, intellectual functions include reasoning, problem solving, planning, abstract thinking, judgment, academic learning, and learning from experience. Deficits in these functions must be confirmed by clinical evaluation and individualized standard IQ testing. On the other hand, adaptive behaviors include the social, developmental, and practical skills people learn to perform tasks in their everyday lives. Deficits in adaptive functioning often compromises an individual's independence and ability to meet their social responsibility.
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit advocacy organization run by and for individuals on the autism spectrum. ASAN advocates for the inclusion of autistic people in decisions that affect them, including: legislation, depiction in the media, and disability services.
Angelman syndrome (AS) is a genetic disorder that mainly affects the nervous system. Symptoms include a small head and a specific facial appearance, severe intellectual disability, developmental disability, limited to no functional speech, balance and movement problems, seizures, and sleep problems. Children usually have a happy personality and have a particular interest in water. The symptoms generally become noticeable by one year of age.
Klinefelter syndrome (KS), also known as 47,XXY, is a chromosome anomaly where a male has an extra X chromosome. These complications commonly include infertility and small, poorly functioning testicles. These symptoms are often noticed only at puberty, although this is one of the most common chromosomal disorders, occurring in one to two per 1,000 live births. It is named after American endocrinologist Harry Klinefelter, who identified the condition in the 1940s.
Deaf and hard of hearing individuals with additional disabilities are referred to as "Deaf Plus" or "Deaf+". Deaf children with one or more co-occurring disabilities could also be referred to as hearing loss plus additional disabilities or Deafness and Diversity (D.A.D.). About 40–50% of deaf children experience one or more additional disabilities, with learning disabilities, intellectual disabilities, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and visual impairments being the four most concomitant disabilities. Approximately 7–8% of deaf children have a learning disability. Deaf plus individuals utilize various language modalities to best fit their communication needs.