PANAMA CITY — Twenty-eight-year-old twins Jamie and Jonie Barlow took to the gymnasium floor Friday at First United Methodist Church to show other dancers how the “electric slide” and the “wop dance” are done.
“Oh, Lord,” said Christine Barlow, the twins’ mother. “They got them going now.”
She watched from the sideline as her daughters mastered the latest line dance and mingled with other individuals with Down syndrome and a large crowd of individuals Friday night who don’t have the genetic disorder.
Local down syndrome support group Acton Up with Downs Inc. (AUWDI) aimed to raise awareness and support for the Down syndrome community through the event, which coincided with World Down Syndrome Day.
“Everyone is unique,” said event chairman Chris Moseley, who has a 2-year-old daughter with Down syndrome. “A lot of people think kids with Down syndrome can’t do things that normal kids can do … but that’s not the way it works.”
People with Down syndrome of all ages “have jobs, go to school and do everything that we do,” Moseley said.
According to the organization, the genetic disorder impacts one in every 644 live births and about 400,000 individuals in the country have the condition.
Margaret K. Lewis, 95, for whom Margaret K. Lewis School for the disabled was named, recalled a time when disabled children such as those with Down syndrome were shut in and not welcomed by society to receive an education or workforce training.
“Anything you can do to make the public accept these kids and see that they’re just people,” Lewis said, “and I think that’s good.”
Christine Barlow would agree; her twins are just another set of twins who do what sisters their age do.
“They love to go to parties and dance and wrestling,” Christine Barlow said.
“They’re like everybody else; they want to fit in like everybody else does,” she said. “My two don’t let (Down syndrome) slow them down.
“Not at all,” she added emphatically. “Not at all.”
What is Down syndrome?
Down syndrome occurs when an individual has a full or partial extra copy of chromosome 21, instead of 23 pairs of chromosomes. This additional genetic material alters the course of development and causes the characteristics associated with Down syndrome. A few of the common physical traits are low muscle tone, small stature, an upward slant to the eyes and a single deep crease across the center of the palm. However, each person with Down syndrome may have these characteristics to different degrees — or not at all.
Source: National Down Syndrome Society