Oh please. People get a freaking life.
Unless "All Saints" was a documentary about genetics and down syndrome, go the f away.

It is a tv show.

Here is a little secret to those who want to press criminal or civil charges... the show isn't real. You see it is all make believe. Yeah, I know it is hard to believe, but it's true.

If you are getting medical advice, or information on genetic diseases from someone who got their job because they are attractive, you have bigger problems.

...wha?

First of all, what's up with a show with two characters being siblings and bumping uglies?

Anyway, this Down Syndrome of Austrailia group is clearly one guy in an office trying to justify the membership dues.

I can ALMOST see a complaint from some incest advocacy group but from a Down's group? As if people with Down's are even watching that show? I mean really.

Did the show suggest that incest is the only cause of Down's Syndrome, or only one cause?

I'd agree with the above, except one child with Down's has already been harassed because of the misinformation spread by the show. That is the complaint.

Imagine being chased around or even assaulted by people shouting that your parents are brother and sister!

You'd be amazed at the number of people who get their advanced education from the magic glowing box...

I do not agree with this statement. Because it isn't real, it doesn't give them the right to claim something that is false. If a TV show in this format would claim that black people have lower cognitive functions and that white people are in general smarter (A falsehood proclaimed by many racist extremists), it would insult a huge number of people, and there will be hell to pay for the show.

"It's just a TV show" doesn't cut it then. And it doesn't now.

That's unfortunate but the notion that incest has a chance of causing Down's has been around long before this show.

I do agree with you.

I think the issue is the question that incest causes Down Syndrome, but that the consequence for incest is Down Syndrome.

I can imagine that if I had a child with DS I wouldn't want to hear a TV show putting such a claim out there. That DS is a sort of penality for being a bad person.

Yeah, I would be pissed too.

I have just come across your comments made a few months back on a forum and found them astonishing.

"First of all, what's up with a show with two characters being siblings and bumping uglies?"

Well, agree with you on that one...

"Anyway, this Down Syndrome of Austrailia group is clearly one guy in an office trying to justify the membership dues."

Down Syndrome Australia consists of 8 separate state Down Syndrome organisations and a collective membership of several 1000 people - mostly people with Down syndrome and their families. Each state organisation independently supported the stand by Down Syndrome Australia.

The issue was first taken up by DS Australia after receiving a number of complaints from the families of people with Down syndrome. The simple truth is that a popular medical drama presented a factually inaccurate scenario, and in doing so perpetuated a myth, namely that incest somehow causes or leads to an increased likelihood of Down syndrome. This is totally incorrect. There is no more of a relationship between incest and DS, as there is between incest and viewing Lost. What is wrong with Down Syndrome Australia wishing to correct the record and educate the public?

"I can ALMOST see a complaint from some incest advocacy group but from a Down's group? As if people with Down's are even watching that show? I mean really."

Which shows do you think people with Down Syndrome watch? I can assure you many people with Down syndrome are regular viewers of All Saints as many would be of Lost too, and a whole range of other shows. A number of people with Down syndrome did see this particular episode and did comment on it to us or to their families. You may be surprised to know that people with Down syndrome go to work, play sport, watch tv, go to the pub, have opinions, have feelings, etc.

There is much further information about Down syndrome at our website www.dsansw,org.au if you wish to learn more.

This notion may have been around but there is no factual basis to it. The program reinforced the myth.