A Message From Margaret Simon

Hello everybody,

I am John Simon's mother. It is very gratifying to know that our son is making such an impact by helping Melie in the first adventure, 'The Magic Eye'. As you probably know already, John was born with Down's Syndrome. I wanted to share a little bit about Down's with you.
Down's syndrome is caused by an extra chromosome, one of the tiny bundles of DNA found in all of our cells.
Normally, our cells contain 46 chromosomes: 23 inherited from each parent. In Down's syndrome, an extra copy of chromosome 21 is included when the sperm and the egg meet to form the embryo. This means there are 47 chromosomes in the baby's cells. Down's syndrome is also known as trisomy 21.
We believe that chromosome 21 must be something to do with love because every Down's syndrome child and adult we have ever met seems to have an abundance of unconditional love as part of their personality. John is no different.