How Individuals with Down Syndrome can Prosper in Life Essay -- Health

How Individuals with Down Syndrome can Prosper in Life Roger is a handsome blonde, blue-eyed boy but one can tell he is different from most other children.   His physical features are somewhat strange.   Roger's face is broader and his nasal bridge flatter than usual.   And his eyes, they appear to slant upward and have folds at the inner corners.   His mouth is small and the roof of his mouth is very narrow.   Not to mention his small ears which fold over a bit at the top.   Touching his hands they are tiny, his fingers shorter and his fifth finger seems to curve slightly inward.   These are all physical signs of a child with a disorder called Down syndrome, a chromosome disorder.   While there is no actual cure for Down syndrome I believe parents can give their children the opportunity to live longer, happier more capable lives than any prior generation of people with Down syndrome.   Children with Down syndrome have the potential to fit into society and lead normal lives by education, employment and support from a be tter-informed society.     Ã‚   One may ask why looking at a disorder like Down syndrome is important in relation to science.   This is because approximately three to five thousand children are born with Down syndrome each year.   And it is believed there are about two hundred and fifty thousand families in the United States who are affected by Down syndrome (Moss).   Down syndrome occurs when certain events occur during cell division to cause the wrong chromosome number as a result.   Down syndrome is a chromosomal disorder characterized by the presence of an extra #21 chromosome.   Instead of having forty-six chromosomes in each of his/her cells, a person with Down syndrome has forty-seven.   It is believed that during cell ... ...nd make significant contributions to their communities every day (UPSIDE! Down Syndrome Society - Ramblings).   With education, employment, and support from a community an individual with Down syndrome can have a normal life and there is no limit to what he/she can accomplish. . Work Cited 1) Down Syndrome: For New Parents. 15 February 2004. 2) Kate Moss.   "Hearing and Vision Loss Associated with Down Syndrome." 15 February 2004.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   3) Starr, Cecie. Basic Concepts in Biology.   United States: Thomson Learning, Inc., 2003. 4) Unger, Darlene. "Working in the community through supported Employment."   13 February  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2004. 5) "UPSIDE! Down Syndrome Society-Ramblings." 15 February 2004.  Ã‚     Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Has television destroyed communication among friends and family? Essay

Television is undoubtedly one of the most powerful means of communication in the history of humankind, rivaled only by such other forms of communication as the Internet, the telephone, movies, and, of course, simple, low-tech speech. Television, with its wide availability and rich media with image and sound, is difficult to ignore and even seductive in its appeal. Television is as much a part of our lives as are our meals, work, or school; studies consistently show that the average American child spends almost as much time watching television as she does in school. Furthermore, because television is so rich in its media, it often requires our full attention or is more attraction to us than are our daily lives. Naturally, the more time one spends watching television, the less time she has with her family and friends. Thus, we can clearly see why some have claimed that television has been harmful for communication among family and friends. However, I believe that, while television has been somewhat harmful in its effects, it has hardly â€Å"destroyed† communication among family and friends for most people, although for some, this may be true. Most people much prefer spending time with their families and friends to spending time watching television. Television is of course an important part of many people’s lives, but most people would gladly choose family and friends over television were they given the choice. Furthermore, most educated people are aware of the deleterious effects of too much television and either avoid excessive time watching television, or actually do not enjoy it. I, for example, after a long day at work, would much rather spend time talking with my wife and playing with my children than I would watching some unrealistic portrayal of life on television. For me and my family, our time together is precious and beautiful, and could never be replaced or hurt by television. Furthermore, the effect of television is simply not so great that it could be said to have â€Å"destroyed† communication among family and friends. Granting that communication among family and friends in industrialized count ries has decreased in recent years, it might be tempting to blame this problem on television since its rise roughly coincided with the decrease in time we spend with our families. However, I believe this situation is more likely due to increased pressures relating from work, school, and the economy. In my case, for example, I find that my pressures from work are so great that I must often sacrifice time at home so that I can meet the challenges of  running my own business. Many of my friends are in similar situations–my best friend, for example, has just finished law school, which took about sixty hours a week of his time. In a word, people nowadays have very little time for anything, but television is not the cause–it is increased desire to succeed. In some situations, however, television has surely contributed to a decrease in communication among family members. In my childhood in the countryside, I often saw parents and children watching television for hours on end, rarely speaking with one another. It seemed for them that television was a way to escape from their sad, miserable existence. However, even in this case, I would say that television merely contributed to the bad situation, but did not cause it; were television not existent, surely these people would have found other escapes, alcohol or gambling, for example. In other words, people always find a way to do what they want to do. In short, I do not believe that television has d estroyed or even harmed interpersonal communication among most people. Most people realize that television is merely a temporary diversion and do not use it to replace interpersonal communication. I believe that the damage attributed to television is greatly exaggerated and that such damage is most likely attributable to other more powerful social factors.

Essay on Edgar Allen Poe’s Fall of House of Usher

Bipolar disorder affects many people today as well as in the time of Edgar Allen Poe when it was then called melancholia. Poe was diagnosed with this disorder and it plays an integral role in his story, â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† (1839). This story is heavily influenced by this disorder or its presently associated symptoms and also describes one way that bipolar disorder can genetically affect an entire family. To fully understand a story involving this disorder, it is cardinal to know the exact definition of bipolar disorder, as well as its symptoms and previous aliases.The Oxford English Dictionary defines bipolar disorder as: â€Å"a form of mental illness characterized by one or more episodes of mania typically accompanied by one or more episodes of major depression† (Cite? ). Some terms used for what is now considered bipolar disorder include melancholia and manic depression. Melancholia is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as: â€Å"A pathologic al state of despondency; severe depression; severe endogenous depression, with loss of interest and pleasure in normal activities, disturbance of sleep and appetite, feelings of worthlessness and guilt, and thoughts of death or suicide. (Cite? ). The first person to associate melancholia and madness as two parts of the same disease was Araeteus from Cappadocia (30-90 AD) (Skeppar 8). Manic Depression is actually included as an equivalent term to bipolar disorder in the Oxford English Dictionary. (Cite? ) There are four main stages of bipolar disorder: hypomania, mania, depressed, and mixed. Hypomania and mania share similar symptoms such as racing thoughts, increased physical activity, lack of sleep and hunger, and heightened sensitivity. Hypomania also has a distinct symptom labeled as an increase in goal directed activity.The depression stage includes symptoms such as constant depression, insomnia or hypersomnia, psychomotor agitation, energy loss, trouble thinking, and indecisive ness. As expected the mixed stage has some common symptoms as the other stages and also more severe such as thoughts of death and suicidal ideations. These symptoms previously mentioned play an immense role in diagnosing the character of Roderick Usher. It is common knowledge that bipolar disorder has symptoms of mood swings both high and low which is why it is justly named.Not commonly known, however, is the link between artistry and this disorder (Jamison). The wise Aristotle is quoted as saying, â€Å"Why is it that all men who are outstanding in philosophy, poetry or the arts are melancholic? † (Jamison 51). A side note to this is evident when Jamison states: â€Å"The manic drive in its controlled form and phase is of value only if joined to ability† (Jamison 55). The artistic tendencies frequently common with bipolar syndrome help the reader to diagnose Roderick Usher in the story â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher†.It is overwhelmingly clear that throug hout Poe’s story, Roderick Usher suffers from bipolar disorder. It is clear from early on in the story that Usher is suffering not only from depression, but also from an illness in his mind as shown in his letter to the narrator: â€Å"The writer spoke of acute bodily illness — of a mental disorder which oppressed him — and of an earnest desire to see me, as his best, and indeed his only personal friend, with a view of attempting, by the cheerfulness of my society, some alleviation of his malady. † (Poe).The narrator also notices his mood swings evidenced by the different ways in which he would talk displayed by this passage: â€Å"His voice varied rapidly from a tremulous indecision (when the animal spirits seemed utterly in abeyance) to that species of energetic concision — that abrupt, weighty, unhurried, and hollow-sounding enunciation — that leaden, self-balanced and perfectly modulated guttural utterance, which may be observed in the lost drunkard, or the irreclaimable eater of opium, during the periods of his most intense excitement. † (Poe). Another way that Usher displays signs of bipolar disorder is through his artistic expression.Not only does he paint, but he also reads heavily and plays musical instruments which shown a sign of increased goal related activity. Also, Usher â€Å"suffered much from a morbid acuteness of the senses; the most insipid food was alone endurable; he could wear only garments of certain texture; the odors of all flowers were oppressive; his eyes were tortured by even a faint light; and there were but peculiar sounds, and these from stringed instruments, which did not inspire him with horror. † (Poe). This heightened sensitivity is evidence of the mania stage associated with bipolar syndrome.Also, a possible episode of mania would be the scene involving Usher’s sister coming from the dead. This could surely be seen as an hallucination and sign of a manic episode. To recap, Usher has symptoms from the hypomania, mania, and depressed stages meaning the ailment that he suffers from is not melancholia, but instead a modern case of bipolar or manic depression disorder. One reason for a character in a story having a particular disorder would be that the author has real life experience with it. Such is the case with Edgar Allen Poe and â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher†.Poe most definitely suffered from what would now be considered a form of manic-depression disorder. During his final year on Earth, he showed signs of mania, constantly relocating to various cities (Meyers 244). Also during this year, he is reported as saying to a friend named Frederic Thomas: â€Å"You will be pleased to hear that I am in better health than I ever knew myself to be- full of energy and bent on success. † (Meyers 245). This evidence of a prolonged state of mania or even hypomania as he reports having an increase in energy, goal related activated, an d seems to be experiencing delusions of grandeur.He also experienced stages of depression including binges of drinking and even hallucinations (Meyers 252). Poe also had a recorded attempt of suicide in November 1848 (Meyers 252). According to Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison, â€Å"Poe was scarcely alone in suffering from both manic-depressive illness and alcohol and drug abuse† (Jamison 37). Jamison seems to have diagnosed Poe with manic-depression or bipolar disorder. From other places in Jamison’s book, Touched with Fire: Manic Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament, it’s reasonable to believe that Poe’s artistry most likely stems from his disorder allowing him to be even more creative.Perhaps Poe’s own psychological problems influenced his portrayal of Usher in this short story. As aforementioned, both Poe and his fictitious character Roderick Usher suffer from bipolar disorder. This was not by coincidence. It seems clear that Poe’s re asoning for this is to give the public a way to see inside Poe’s on diseased mind and better understand not only his works, but also himself. An author’s best ways to display his own problems are to weave them into a story as is done in â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher. † One can better understand his mind through a story than with descriptions of his symptoms alone.Bipolar disorder is a hereditary disease. According to Dr. Francis J. McMahon of the National Institute of Mental Health in regards to the genetic inheritance of this disorder, â€Å"about two-thirds of the risk for bipolar disorder can be explained by genes† (â€Å"NIH†). This information is known due to twin studies: if one identicle twin has manic depression then it is a 60 to 80% likelihood that the other twin has it (â€Å"NIH’). The genetic inheritance of this disorder amongst sufferers is around 79 to 93% (Backlund 501). This means that most manic-depressive people ac quired the trait from family members instead of from environmental factors alone.The exact genes that cause bipolar disorder are not yet known but different genes have been isolated (Jamison 16). One of these possible genes could be the P2RX7 gene (Backlund 501). This gene affects the way in which dopamine is unleashed in the brain which brings about its association with the manic episodes of manic-depression (Backlund 501). The heredity of bipolar disorder plays an interesting role in â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher†. Roderick Usher inherited his manic-depressive disorder in a modernly bizarre way: through inbreeding.Usher belong to a wealthy prominent family as shown by his massive, gothic style house. Many of these wealthy families practiced inbreeding in order to keep bloodlines strong and to prevent the spreading of wealth. This is shown when the narrator says â€Å"I had learned, too, the very remarkable fact, that the stem of the Usher race, all time-honored as i t was, had put forth, at no period, any enduring branch; in other words, that the entire family lay in the direct line of descent, and had always, with very trifling and very temporary variation, so lain† (Poe).This quote visibly projects an image of inbreeding as it says the family tree was essentially bare of branches. Due to the influence that genetics plays on bipolar disorder, if one person in his family had it then he is also likely to have it. A lack of genetic diversity means that many other people in his family most likely suffered from the same disorder as him. It seems likely that his sister also suffered due to the constant presence of a doctor in the house.Early on in the story, the narrator says that the family for generations had been interested in music and the sciences (Poe). When looking at this through a bipolar perspective, these interests could be a derivative of an entire family suffering from the same disorder. Another note is that the narrator says that â€Å"’House of Usher’ — an appellation which seemed to include, in the minds of the peasantry who used it, both the family and the family mansion† (Poe) Therefore, when the House of Usher crumbles at the end of the story; perhaps it is in reality the crumbling of Usher’s mind.The correlation between inbreeding in this story and bipolar disorder is strong. By knowing the way in which inbreeding affects bipolar sufferers, one can better understand the story. Also, the knowledge of Poe’s melancholia can also explain why this story may have been written: to portray this disorder in a way in which people can better understand it. A better understanding of these disorder not only helps people understand the mysterious mind of Poe, but also people they may encounter in real life.

Medieval Weapons and Protection essays

Medieval Weapons and Protection essays The Middle Ages hold many of the worlds most curious weapons. Knights used many different types of weapons. These included swords, daggers and lances. Some were for long-range, such as the longbow, short bow and cross bow and some were for close encounters. They protected themselves with suits of armor (closely woven metal, and metal sheets) and shields. There were also gigantic weapons used to tear down whole castles. Swords, daggers and lances were very good for fighting battles that were up close and very dangerous. There were different kinds of swords like the thrusting sword (14th century), the falchion sword (13th century), and the hand-and-a-half-sword (14th century). At the end of the 13th century, swords were more pointed and the section of the blade was diamond-shaped rather than flat. That made the sword stronger. There was even ones that were serrated to cut wooden axe handles and one called the two-handed sword; it could cut through bone. These are used by knights on foot and is longer and heavier than other swords. (Knight-Meyr) A knights sword was his most important weapon. There were two different types of daggers. They were the 15th century bullock dagger, and the 14th century rondel dagger. Sometimes, people could hide daggers in walking sticks. Lances were for knights on horseback to knock off the enemy knight. They used the lance for battles and jousting. The jousting knight us es a lance to knock his opponent from the horse. It is second only to the sword as a knights weapon, and is used in battle or tournaments. (Knight-Meyr) A very unusual weapon was the bola. It was a spiked ball on a short chain that is attached to a wooden handle. The ball reached high speeds when swung and delivered forceful, crushing blows. Long-rang weapons were used in battle, but were more discreet and could be used from a distance. The long-range weapons are the crossbow, longbow ...

Free Essays on The Search Of Identity In “Battle Royal“

Ralph Ellison’s 1948 short story â€Å"Battle Royal† depicts a boy at a proverbial fork in the road with his identity while trying to deal with cut-throat racism. The symbolism in â€Å"Battle Royal† is given in order to show the two choices the Invisible Man has to choose from in order to overcome his oppression. On one hand he can waste his intelligence and join what he has learned to hate and become the very thing that oppresses him from his full potential. On the other, he can use his intelligence to stay true to himself while at the same time overcoming the oppression that makes him different. Ellison uses two distinct symbols in to place the Invisible Man in a decision that will ultimately create his own identity. In the story, Ellison uses an important symbol in the form of a white naked woman who dances for the aristocrats. Through this woman the Invisible Man is faced with a choice to which the decision will ultimately decide his identity. To take one path, the Invisible Man views like his audience the aristocrats, the woman as an object to which he can control and ogle over as he pleases. However through another path he feels like the woman, an object himself. â€Å"I wanted at one and the same time to run from the room, to sink through the floor, or go to her and cover her from my eyes and the eyes of the other with my body; to feel the soft thighs, to caress her and destroy her, to love her and to murder her, to hide from her, and yet to stroke where below the small American flag tattooed upon her belly her thighs formed a capital V† (558). The Invisible Man is crossed over the decision to take the side of his enemies and ogle over her or to accept the fact that she falls on t he same side as him and is nothing but a toy for the spectators. This outlook on other people is a deciding factor on what kind of person the Invisible Man himself will become. If he takes the darker view of the dancer like the aristocrats then... Free Essays on The Search Of Identity In â€Å"Battle Royalâ€Å" Free Essays on The Search Of Identity In â€Å"Battle Royalâ€Å" Ralph Ellison’s 1948 short story â€Å"Battle Royal† depicts a boy at a proverbial fork in the road with his identity while trying to deal with cut-throat racism. The symbolism in â€Å"Battle Royal† is given in order to show the two choices the Invisible Man has to choose from in order to overcome his oppression. On one hand he can waste his intelligence and join what he has learned to hate and become the very thing that oppresses him from his full potential. On the other, he can use his intelligence to stay true to himself while at the same time overcoming the oppression that makes him different. Ellison uses two distinct symbols in to place the Invisible Man in a decision that will ultimately create his own identity. In the story, Ellison uses an important symbol in the form of a white naked woman who dances for the aristocrats. Through this woman the Invisible Man is faced with a choice to which the decision will ultimately decide his identity. To take one path, the Invisible Man views like his audience the aristocrats, the woman as an object to which he can control and ogle over as he pleases. However through another path he feels like the woman, an object himself. â€Å"I wanted at one and the same time to run from the room, to sink through the floor, or go to her and cover her from my eyes and the eyes of the other with my body; to feel the soft thighs, to caress her and destroy her, to love her and to murder her, to hide from her, and yet to stroke where below the small American flag tattooed upon her belly her thighs formed a capital V† (558). The Invisible Man is crossed over the decision to take the side of his enemies and ogle over her or to accept the fact that she falls on t he same side as him and is nothing but a toy for the spectators. This outlook on other people is a deciding factor on what kind of person the Invisible Man himself will become. If he takes the darker view of the dancer like the aristocrats then...

Joseph Beuys - Into Fat Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Joseph Beuys - Into Fat - Essay Example The paper "Joseph Beuys: Into Fat" analyses Joseph Beuys and his art. â€Å"That’s how the Tartars found me days later. I remember voices saying ‘Voda’ (water), then the felt of their tents, and the dense pungent smell of cheese, fat and milk. They covered my body in fat to help it regenerate warmth, and wrapped it in felt as an insulator to keep warmth in.† It was written in Wikipedia that this story has served as a powerful myth of origins for Beuys’ artistic identity, as well as providing an initial interpretative key to his use of unconventional materials. However, this myth was not mentioned, even if to be shrouded in fiction, in an idiosyncratic CV that Beuys produced in a 1964 festival, title Life Course/Work Course. This CV was a self-consciously fictionalized account of the artist’s life, in which historical events mingle with metaphorical and mythical speech, marking a blurring of fact and fiction that was to be characteristic of Beu ys’ self-created persona. Thus, it was a debate on the grounds of the plane crash myth, for had it been a real occurrence, it would have had a place it Beuys’ CV. Had it been made-believe, it would still secure a place in the controversial CV being that the myth provided the inspiration for his life’s work. And yet it was never to be documented this plane crash which happened in Cremia and his eventual meeting with the Tartars who taught Beuys the healing properties of fat and felt. Beuys staged performances or what he call â€Å"actions† which had the magic of rituals.

Consumer buyer behavior about ego-expressive way in the decision Case Study - 1

Consumer buyer behavior about ego-expressive way in the decision making of rolex costumer - Case Study Example The owners of the Rolex Watch product rely on their understanding of the consumer behavior extensively as many other successful businesses. The consumers of the watch as a product are diverse and they present various factors that lead them towards purchasing the product readily. The Rolex Watch brand is the leading and most expensive Watch in the market currently. There are several types of the Watch. Moreover, Rolex manufactures watches designated for each of the genders, ages and uses. These are essential factors of consideration in the pricing aspect of the product. For instance, according to information gathered through the interactions with the Rolex professionals, the female gender used to constitute a large share of their customers. However, with the current developments in the market, the company is also manufacturing watches for men in large volumes, meaning that the male population is also a considerable consumer volume of the watches. The aspects of use, it depends on the reasons why the consumer purchases the watch. The latest development in the company is the establishment of the Rolex diving watch. Thus, with such watches, resistant to water, offering quality and accurate time measurement initiates the desire in the consumers to own a watch. The larger base of the consumer of the Rolex Watch includes the rich people, collectors of antiques and retail business people. The aspect that the Rolex Watch has a high pricing means that the consumers with low income are unable to afford the product. In manufacturing the product, Rolex focus on people with an interest in brand and aesthetic value of products. The watch established itself as a virtually dominant brand in the market, due to its association with class and high social status. The watch enjoys an ego-expressive status in its customers, as they seek the product for various reasons, all related