Originally written around 1996
My sister, Kristin, has Down Syndrome, a genetic condition caused by one extra chromosome. In a "normal" person, there are 46 chromosomes in each cell of the body, arranged in 23 pairs. People with Down Syndrome have an extra chromosome that is usually in pair 21, called Standard Trisomy 21. Although there are variations between people with Down's, I have noticed two things that many of them lack that us "normal" people have: lack of modesty and moral knowledge. These same two traits are the only two traits attributed to Adam and Eve before original sin; they had no shame of their naked bodies and God commanded them not to touch the fruit from the tree of moral knowledge.
Let me explain my sister's lack of modesty with a little anecdote from our youth. I remember one time at the pool when I was young and Kristin was in her teens. My mom sent Kristin into the bathroom to change out of her wet bathing suit. A few minutes later, Kristin came out: completely naked, wet bathing suit in hand. My mother almost died, but Kristin still had a smile on her face as my mother quickly shoved her back into the bathroom.
It always amazed me growing up that she never cared about covering herself up. None of the typical embarrassment, self-consciousness, or insecurity that eventually took over in me and all my friends. There's a sort-of eternal innocence that preserves this childlike trait in people of Down's, and I've come to admire this trait so much.
Another childlike trait that puzzled me growing up and observing my sister is that she never noticed when other people were making fun of her. She doesn't have that gauge for understanding the difference between people being good or bad. She is certainly impressionable and can learn the tricks of the trade by watching someone else, but she doesn't register the right versus wrong alternative. Reminiscent of Eve being prodded by the serpent to disobey and eat the fruit, Kristin too might be swayed into a forbidden cookie before dinner. But when asked if she did it, she'd just show the chocolate in her teeth: no guilt, no shame for breaking the rules.
Studies done on the
behavior and psychology of people with Down's seem to attribute a wide
range of traits, negative and positive, to people with Down's, and I've come to believe that people
with Down's are a mirror of what they've seen and experienced. My sister grew up in an incredibly supportive environment, and she has flourished. She has had a full-time job at the Dupont Company for eight years where she uses a computer to sort mail and delivers it around to different buildings. Other kids she was friends with were exposed to less than ideal environments, and they reflected these environments back in very different behaviors: terrible habits, mean words, closed posture. I've come to see people with Down's as clean slates, so impressionable, so innocent, and so pure.
And so it seems to me this extra chromosome is really a chromosome of purity. Might the world be a Garden of Eden if everyone had the chromosome of purity? Is it really such a handicap that no disappointment and desire lasts long enough to cause real pain? Is it really so bad to have happiness take precedence over stress? I've so often thought Down's Syndrome is her gift, not her handicap.
And yet, these lost souls of the Garden of Eden have shown up in a chaotic world, and are often hurt and even defiled by the chaos and ugliness around them. I propose we work to maintain their purity, and respect them deeply. We have so much to learn if we just realize the great teachers they really are.
