Welcome!

I've had this blog in mind for quite a while now as I felt there was a need for a friendly and experienced source of support and information for the parents of children with Down's Syndrome. My own daughter is 22 years old and over the years I have been fairly lucky with the support I have received, but there were gaping holes in the information on hand which I have had to fill through either trial and error, intense research, pure luck or being just stroppy enough to get the answers I was looking for.

I don't claim to be an expert - if you notice any errors in the information I post here, please feel free to get in touch and put me straight! I have, however, seen my daughter through the mainstream school system from infant to secondary and even on to college. I have also worked as a pre-school practitioner for 7 years (complete with training in pre-school practice, special needs and as a SENCO) and a further 7 years as an LSA (Learning Support Assistant) in a mainstream infant school working on a one-to-one basis with children with Downs as well as other special needs children.

I hope to keep this blog very much as a continuing work in progress, posting regularly about various subjects connected to the bringing up and educating of a child with Downs. I will try to keep the headings and labels as simple as possible in order for a topic to be found quickly and easily. For instance, anything to do with dentistry, teeth, special needs dentists etc. to be under the label 'teeth' - the last thing any harried parent needs is to be messing around unnecessarily searching for what they want to know!

If there is anything specific you would like to find out about, again get in touch - if I don't know, I can attempt to point you in the right direction. If there is anything you feel should be shared - get in touch!

I will put relevant links in the sidebar, i.e. the DSA - I cannot recommend the Down's Syndrome Association highly enough for their informed and positive approach, as well as having fantastically well-qualified advisors on the end of the phone who are willing to help you with any query you may have. Joining the DSA also entitles you to receiving their newsletter which is informative and upbeat.

Thank you for visiting - I hope you will be back another day!