Down Syndrome Awareness Month – October 28, 2025

Did you know? In our experience, many adults with Down syndrome excel at sensing the emotions of other people. This has been called “empathy radar.”

Dennis McGuire, PhD, and Brian Chicoine, MD, discuss empathy radar in their book Mental Wellness in Adults with Down Syndrome. They have observed that many adults with Down syndrome are able to “pick up” on the feelings and emotions of others. They share the following example: 

“Mark, age fifteen, was with his parents at a school conference. The focus of the conference was expectedly on Mark. Suddenly, he changed the flow of the meeting by asking his teacher, ‘How are you doing? You seem upset.’ His parents, who had not noticed a problem, were somewhat startled by his interruption and confused by his apparent lack of understanding of the purpose of the conference. The teacher paused, became teary-eyed, and then told Mark and his parents that a close relative had recently died. She thanked Mark and spent much of the rest of the conference discussing Mark’s empathy and compassion for others.”

Empathy radar can be beneficial in developing and maintaining relationships with family, friends, classmates, co-workers, and other people that individuals with Down syndrome interact with throughout their lives. Empathy radar can also be a challenge if the person internalizes the feelings of others and is unable to filter out the strong emotions, stressors, tensions, and/or conflicts of others.

Additional information on empathy radar is shared in Chapter 4 of Dr. McGuire and Dr. Chicoine’s book. Free PDFs of Mental Wellness in Adults with Down Syndrome in English and Spanish are available in our Resource Library.