I need advise to be able to "work" with a Adult downs patient.

Please could i have advise from anyone who is in contact with Adults who have downsyndrome. I work onward with physio, but only been there a few months. A patient onward is a adult male with downs, he keeps refusing treatment with my peers, yet today he wanted therapy with me. He spoke a lot of "worlds strongest man" And i want to work a therapy session around this, but i dont want to be treating him like a child, but i want to make it a interesting and progressive as possible as his health lies in the balance. I have had NO hands on experiance untill today with downs and so do not want to come accross as arogant to him in any shape or form, but also he made a connection today with me after weeks of refusal with others and i dont want to screw this up. any sugestions?

[SimplyStar]

I have a 38 year old DS son, and I also worked for 20 years in a facility for adults with disabilities.  He has evidently made a connection with you, in your physiotheraphy work use the strong man theme,  talk about superman,  tell him that superman had an accident and had to have physio to make him strong again, just act very normal, never condensending, let him tell you what he likes and dislikes, you can build on that, if  the physio is going to hurt, tell him first, explain all that you and he are going to be doing to make him strong.  A good coversation with him will help you more than anything, if you can demostrate what you want him to do and then tell him you would like to see him do it, that puts him in charge, makes him feel important. Never say anything negative about treatment or him, be positive and guide him to think positive.  I got my son to use the treadmill  by showing him first,  I use a timer to let him know how long to walk, also use the staionary bike, with the timer, exersizing is very important to the DS, my son swims, hikes and runs.  He also had a life threatnig experience a few years back, we used physio to bring back his muscle tome and indurance.  reward him with a high five, or anything that seems to make him know he worked hard and earned  the reward.

[sister333]

Hi - I have a 31 yr old Downs sister who has been progressively declining in her capabilities over the years and I am very worried that since we are not able to understand what is going on that things will progressively slide and I was hoping to reach out to other Downs families that can perhaps shed light.......2 years ago we took her to the Adult Downs Center in Chicago but since she does not live in the US - it was a one-time appointment so it was hard for them to really diagnose anything and give clear indication as to what might be the issue.

Here are some traits that we are seeing:

1) Massive twitching of her eyes/nose/and mouth as if she is resetting some pain receptors - doing this constantly
2)  Major weight loss - she is just shrinking and used to be incredibly healthy 7 years ago.  She has hypothroidism and is on medication but that alone should not be causing so much weight loss
3) Constant need to go to the bathroom - almost obsessive compulsive behavior and will spend a lot of time there
4) constantly stopping as she is walking to and from anywhere

I would really like to hear from anyone if this is normal and if not, what we should check her for or which specialists we should have her see

Thanks
Concerned Sister

[allets]

Thank you both for your comments.

Simply Star : thanks for the advise and i will deffo use the information you have given me.  It pains me that there isnt a lot of information on adult DS or many other mental health issues and i  spent hours trying to reasurch this to give the patient the full treatment required to aid his recovery. By the time my shift started again My patient has been moved into a care home now. The guy deffo made a inpact on my life for the better and the knowladge you shared and the experiance he gave me will help me with any other DS patients we may get. so once again......... Thank you.

Sister 333: I am sorry i dont have enough knowladge to know what advise to give you. I would suggest putting your question up on a new thread, that way it will get more responces as it will be read by more people. I hope all turns around for you and your sister. Love and light be with you both x