What would you think of someone who suggested that the Korean infants she saw looked like they might have Downs syndrome?

I would ask what are her qualifications to know what she’s assuming.

Do you think she was being mean?

No…I think she was just…uninformed.

I think the key phrase there was “looked like”.
Down’s has a phenotype, as well as a genotype. Everybody knows it.
She saw something and made the observation. Maybe she was correct. Maybe not. How do you know. Why is it an issue?

I would think she is trying to expand her understanding of her surroundings and who peoples those surroundings but using only the information she’s been fed. Feed her better information in a nurturing and loving manner and she may recognize the offense inherent in her statements. Unless her statements weren’t offensive to anyone.

Downs would be far more difficult to detect in infancy in a Korean infant than a Caucasian infant, that’s for sure!

You were being sarcastic here, right?

I said “Downs!!! LOL! Well, Downs would be far more difficult to detect in infancy in a Korean infant than a Caucasian infant, that’s for sure! I guess I don’t know what you saw. I looked at it again, didn’t see anything beyond Korean infants”
You LOL’d about Downs? I really don’t know what to say here.

@chyna

I think she was LOLing at the posters ASSUMPTIONS of Downs just because of the eyes.

I have a niece with Down syndrome and it gave me a chuckle. Like most kids with Down Syndrome, she has eyes that have an Asian appearance to them. (this is the origin of the old fashioned terminology of referring to them as “Mongoloid”)

And because of the Early Intervention program in which she was enrolled as an infant she DOES NOT have the typical protruding tongue so I guess a really naive person might assume she was Asian just from the eyes alone. But that’s is pretty naive, hence provoking a chuckle (or an LOL).

Obviously the person assuming that all the Korean infants in the photo had Down Syndrome was pretty naive and relatively uninformed. I don’t get the impression she was being purposely cruel or offensive. She was just woefully uninformed and inexperienced with Down Syndrome.

And her comment was kind of funny and did make me laugh because we kind of aren’t used to encountering that level of naïveté (or ignorance) in the face of all the education efforts having been made in this day and age. After all, its not the 1950s any more :)

Not everyone is as smart as sensitive as Flutherites.

I would not rebuke her, nor would I become all holier than thou. I would chalk this up to ignorance and move on.

(I might internally note that this person is an intellectual lightweight, but I would keep that assessment to myself.)

@Buttonstc exactly. I think she assumed by the shape of their eyes that they had Downs.

There is a theory that suggests that at some point in our evolution humans split into 3 main races, Negroid, Mongoloid and Caucasoid. The Negroid race evolved first, of course, Mongoloid second, and Caucasoid last.
Each main race developed unique features including hair color and texture, skin color, eye color and shape. Caucasians, being the youngest, has the widest variety of features, but are similar non-the less.
Koreans, Japanese and Native Americans, etc. would fall under the main heading of Mongoloid. As @Buttonstc said, Downs kids used to be called “Mongoloids.” I’m glad they changed the term.
I think it’s pretty fascinating, though, that a Caucasian child with Downs would display characteristics of a race more ancient than their own.

Anyway, I included a link to the video in question and I just don’t see anything in any of the infants shown that would suggest, at a glance, that any of them had Downs syndrome.

I promise that if the conversation continues I will not be holier than thou!! Promise! I will keep you guys in mind.

Well, I asked her exactly what she saw that made her think any of the kids in the video had Downs. She hasn’t answered so I’ll drop it.