5 ms·

The article says it sheds light on how people with Downs were treated but doesn't really explain that. The comments on NYT for this article are good. I had a

The article says it sheds light on how people with Downs were treated but doesn't really explain that. The comments on NYT for this article are good. I had a hunch people who had experience caring for such children would show up in the comments, and probably be moving.

pvg 3y ago
It doesn't say that, it says it might shed light i.e. remains with the condition can now be identified which may over time tell us more about how such people were treated.
- asveikau 3y ago
  Right next to the headline it says: > The discovery may help shed light on how prehistoric societies treated children with rare conditions. I apologize if I mis-summarized that, but this is what I was trying to convey.. Some commenters there said similar things to what I did. The sub heading feels like bait and switch. I guess "may" is doing a lot here... Like you said, a future hope based on a new ability to identify.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
stevenwoo 3y ago
The only thing I picked up was that in an area and time where the dead were usually cremated, they left the corpses of the ones with Downs intact with accompanying jewelry as far as we can tell, so there was something special with that treatment - it's just hard to get information about the why and it's a very small number in just one culture/area.
- rpmisms 3y ago
  At a guess, it's because they had to take special care of them, and that was significant for obvious reasons. Cousin Grug who just works is less special than the sweet baby who needs attention all the time.
LoganDark 3y ago
It's obvious the way they were treated was through death. I can't imagine historical societies wouldn't immediately kill someone who was obviously so different than the masses. I mean, weren't those societies the same ones who would burn suspected witches at the stake?
- asveikau 3y ago
  Did you read the article? It says they were buried with jewelry, in a location where they usually cremated people. That suggests they were revered in some way.
  - red75prime 3y ago
    This indicates they were singled out. Was it reverence or an offering to the gods to prevent repetition (or maybe a combination of both) is anyone's guess.
  - Daub 3y ago
    Anyone who has worked or lived with down syndrome people know that they are indeed special: empathetic to a fault and intensely social. https://adscresources.advocatehealth.com/social-sensitivity/#:~:text=Because%20of%20this%2C%20people%20with,and%20especially%20to%20significant%20others https://adscresources.advocatehealth.com/social-sensitivity/....
    - GordonS 3y ago
      Anyone who has actually worked or lived with people with Down's Syndrome knows that's an unrealistic stereotype. People with Down's are have individual personalities, just like anyone else. My daughter has Down's, so we're familiar with several other people with Down's (through support groups, sport groups etc). I can assure you, they are all very different, and this idea that everyone with Down's is happy and smiley all the time needs to die.
      - Daub 3y ago
        I respect your experience with yourvdaughter. I absolutely did not mean to two-dimensionalise anyone with downs and apologize if I gave such impression. However, i speak from experaince having lived with many down syndrome kids for many years. Though they were all manifestly and clearly individuals, there was also a commonality between them. Check out the academic studies in the link I shared which supports this impression. THe link between selfhood (if I may term it such) and the body is something that has been discussed for centuries, with most of that discussion being mumbo jumbo (eg the four temprements). But there does seem to be some mechanism at work. I know that Crohn's disease and Celiac disease are both associated with certain personalitytypes. That's not to say that there condition defines who they are, rather it informs it.
concordDance 3y ago
> The comments on NYT for this article are good. I had a hunch people who had experience caring for such children would show up in the comments, and probably be moving. Note the heavy sampling bias here. Someone who is struggling to cope and secretly hates their "burden" probably won't want to comment.

pvg 3y ago

It doesn't say that, it says it might shed light i.e. remains with the condition can now be identified which may over time tell us more about how such people were treated.

asveikau 3y ago
Right next to the headline it says: > The discovery may help shed light on how prehistoric societies treated children with rare conditions. I apologize if I mis-summarized that, but this is what I was trying to convey.. Some commenters there said similar things to what I did. The sub heading feels like bait and switch. I guess "may" is doing a lot here... Like you said, a future hope based on a new ability to identify.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

stevenwoo 3y ago

The only thing I picked up was that in an area and time where the dead were usually cremated, they left the corpses of the ones with Downs intact with accompanying jewelry as far as we can tell, so there was something special with that treatment - it's just hard to get information about the why and it's a very small number in just one culture/area.

rpmisms 3y ago
At a guess, it's because they had to take special care of them, and that was significant for obvious reasons. Cousin Grug who just works is less special than the sweet baby who needs attention all the time.

LoganDark 3y ago

It's obvious the way they were treated was through death. I can't imagine historical societies wouldn't immediately kill someone who was obviously so different than the masses. I mean, weren't those societies the same ones who would burn suspected witches at the stake?

asveikau 3y ago
Did you read the article? It says they were buried with jewelry, in a location where they usually cremated people. That suggests they were revered in some way.
- red75prime 3y ago
  This indicates they were singled out. Was it reverence or an offering to the gods to prevent repetition (or maybe a combination of both) is anyone's guess.
- Daub 3y ago
  Anyone who has worked or lived with down syndrome people know that they are indeed special: empathetic to a fault and intensely social. https://adscresources.advocatehealth.com/social-sensitivity/#:~:text=Because%20of%20this%2C%20people%20with,and%20especially%20to%20significant%20others https://adscresources.advocatehealth.com/social-sensitivity/....
  - GordonS 3y ago
    Anyone who has actually worked or lived with people with Down's Syndrome knows that's an unrealistic stereotype. People with Down's are have individual personalities, just like anyone else. My daughter has Down's, so we're familiar with several other people with Down's (through support groups, sport groups etc). I can assure you, they are all very different, and this idea that everyone with Down's is happy and smiley all the time needs to die.
    - Daub 3y ago
      I respect your experience with yourvdaughter. I absolutely did not mean to two-dimensionalise anyone with downs and apologize if I gave such impression. However, i speak from experaince having lived with many down syndrome kids for many years. Though they were all manifestly and clearly individuals, there was also a commonality between them. Check out the academic studies in the link I shared which supports this impression. THe link between selfhood (if I may term it such) and the body is something that has been discussed for centuries, with most of that discussion being mumbo jumbo (eg the four temprements). But there does seem to be some mechanism at work. I know that Crohn's disease and Celiac disease are both associated with certain personalitytypes. That's not to say that there condition defines who they are, rather it informs it.

concordDance 3y ago

> The comments on NYT for this article are good. I had a hunch people who had experience caring for such children would show up in the comments, and probably be moving. Note the heavy sampling bias here. Someone who is struggling to cope and secretly hates their "burden" probably won't want to comment.