Opinions

Jon Will, 40 years and going with Down syndrome

By George F. Will Opinion writer May 2, 2012 [link:georgewill@washpost.com|Email the author]

Update from George Will, April 29, 2013: Being a sensible fellow, Jon’s happiness as he turns 41 varies directly with the fortunes of the Nationals, in whose clubhouse, and in section 128 at Nationals Park, he still can be found 81 times a year. On Saturday, May 4 -- the birthday of one of Jon’s great-grandmothers, and Jon’s father, and one of Jon’s nephews -- Jon will attend the Capitals’ afternoon playoff game, where he will mix and mingle with many of the vendors he sees at Nationals Park. Whatever birthday revels occur Saturday evening will be mere background to his close attention to the telecast of the Nats game from Pittsburgh. For Jon -- an apple that did not fall far from the tree -- baseball is not just a part-time preoccupation.

When Jonathan Frederick Will was born 40 years ago — on May 4, 1972, his father’s 31st birthday — the life expectancy for people with Down syndrome was about 20 years. That is understandable.

The day after Jon was born, a doctor told Jon’s parents that the first question for them was whether they intended to take Jon home from the hospital. Nonplussed, they said they thought that is what parents do with newborns. Not doing so was, however, still considered an acceptable choice for parents who might prefer to institutionalize or put up for adoption children thought to have necessarily bleak futures. Whether warehoused or just allowed to languish from lack of stimulation and attention, people with Down syndrome, not given early and continuing interventions, were generally thought to be incapable of living well, and hence usually did not live as long as they could have.

Down syndrome is a congenital condition resulting from a chromosomal defect — an extra 21st chromosome. It causes varying degrees of mental retardation and some physical abnormalities, including small stature, a single crease across the center of the palms, flatness of the back of the head, a configuration of the tongue that impedes articulation, and a slight upward slant of the eyes. In 1972, people with Down syndrome were still commonly called Mongoloids.
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George F. Will writes a twice-weekly column on politics and domestic and foreign affairs. He began his column with The Post in 1974, and he received the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1977. Follow @georgewill

Corey Lewandowski Mocks Down Syndrome Migrant Separated from Mother: 'Womp, Womp'

BY PAULA BOLYARD JUNE 19, 2018

How low can Corey Lewandowski go? Hard to say, but this latest episode is pretty bad, even by the former Trump campaign manager's standards. Appearing on Fox News to debate the migrant crisis at the border with former DNC advisor Zac Petkanas, Lewandowski made light of the story of a 10-year-old girl with Down syndrome who has been separated from her mother (video below).

"Womp, womp," Lewandowski interrupted, sending Petkanas into near hysterics — and rightly so.