We are thrilled to announce that on Friday, November 30 and Saturday December 1, 2012, we will be hosting Down Syndrome Education International (DSE) for a remarkable two-day education conference.
The first-ever Northeast Down Syndrome Education Conference will be held at the Burlington, MA Marriott, and will offer intensive training over for teachers, teaching assistants, educational psychologists, speech and language pathologists, other health and education professionals and parents.
Please see our complete Save the Date announcement, including information on specific tracks and some speaker bios. Stay tuned to this space or our Facebook page for further details as they are announced.
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Please welcome Becca Canavan, our new Development and Communications Intern, to the MDSC Team.
Becca, a rising senior at Bentley University, majors in Marketing and minors in Information Design and Corporate Communication with a concentration in Public Relations.
Becca participates in Bentley's Service Learning Center and was a public relations intern last semester with the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition.
She will be with the MDSC through the Buddy Walk & Family Picnic to help with both of our Buddy Walks and other development projects. You can reach her at rcancavan@mdsc.org.
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Rep. William Keating (above) has signed onto one of our federal priorities bills, the ABLE Act, which will allow people with disabilities to maintain greater control of their savings.
With Rep. Keating's support, the Massachusetts Congressional delegation has an impressive record -- near unanimous support for ABLE.
Only one of our 11 federal legislators has not signed on as a co-sponsor. We are in the process of reaching out to him, Sen. John Kerry (a member of our Honorary Board and a past supporter of the legislation), to find out why. As we do that, it would be helpful for you to call Sen. Kerry's office at (202) 224-2742 and ask him to support the bill.
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As you will see below, it's been a busy Spring here at the MDSC.
We have been meeting with state legislative leaders to lobby for you and your loved ones, planning our 2nd Annual Buddy Walk by the Sea next month, hosting a TV crew from "Chronicle" as they film for an upcoming show about Down syndrome, and finalizing plans to jointly present a two-day Down syndrome education conference with international leaders in the field.
We also have two contests for the month of June you may be interested in: First, Register a Team for our Buddy Walk By the Sea by June 30, and you'll have a chance to win four adult round-trip tickets on the M.V. Island Queen. Or for our Buddy Walk & Family Picnic, raise $300 or more by July 1st and you'll be entered into a raffle to win a behind-the-scenes tour with Dr. Brian Skotko of the new Massachusetts General Hospital Down Syndrome Program followed by ice cream with him at J.P. Licks for you and up to five friends. We may be hard at work here in Burlington, but we want you to enjoy your summer! |
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Join the MDSC on Saturday, July 28th in picturesque Falmouth for our 2nd Annual Buddy Walk by the Sea, where we'll be promoting the acceptance and inclusion of people with Down syndrome on the South Shore, the Cape, and the Islands.
This seaside morning celebration includes children's activities, a one-mile walk, chances to win raffle and silent auction items, resources and information from exhibiting disability organizations, a tasty post-walk treat from Smitty's Homemade Ice Cream, and fun for the whole family!
You'll get to meet our four Self-Advocate Ambassadors - Billy Corcoran, Connor Gifford (left), Carey Daly and Tracey Newhart (right picture) - who are helping plan and publicize the event. They are counting on you to be a part of this fun and meaningful day to make a difference in the lives of people with Down syndrome. See here for details and registration.
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L-R: Audrey Mazeika, Senator Brewer, Jane Lane,
Maureen Gallagher, Dr. Brian Skotko
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As the state continues its deliberations on a final budget for Fiscal Year 2013, the MDSC is right in the thick of things. Last week, our key policy advocates including Executive Director Maureen Gallagher, Board member Dr. Brian Skotko and our government affairs consultant Jane Lane met with the two top members of the Senate Conference Committee, Chairman Stephen Brewer and Vice Chair Jennifer Flanagan. The committee is charged with reconciling the final House and Senate budget proposals.
We are hopeful that the Conference Committee will choose the Senate's language in Line Item 5911-1003 that would provide the MDSC with critical funding for our important programs. We are grateful for Sen. Brewer and Flanagan's time and attention during this critical period in the budget process. We also want to thank Audrey Mazeika (a constituent of Sen. Brewer), and Emily LaMarca and Matt Quinn (constituents of Sen. Flanagan), for participating in the meetings and driving home how important it is for legislators to support good policy for people with Down syndrome in their districts.
If you haven't already, please use our Action Alert from last week to contact your legislators and ask them to support the Senate language that will fund MDSC programs as well as other line-items that help people with disabilities.
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L to R: Emily Lamarca, Maureen Gallagher, Senator Flanagan,
Matt Quinn and Dr. Brian Skotko
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Last week at our Burlington office, the MDSC hosted Channel 5's news magazine program "Chronicle", which is working on a program exploring how the lives of people with Down syndrome has changed in recent decades.
A TV crew that included a producer and camerawoman filmed extensively, interviewing Executive Director Maureen Gallagher, Family Support Director Sarah Cullen, and Self-Advocate Advisory Council member Melissa Reilly (pictured above). They also captured footage of council members Chris May, Louis Sciuto and Philip Donahue conducting a brainstorming session. On other days the TV crew shadowed MDSC Advocacy Specialist John Anton while he worked at the State House.
The show is expected to air at the end of this month or beginning of July. Check our Facebook page and future editions of the UpSide Weekly for more details.
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MDSC Advocacy Specialist John Anton meeting with Rep. David Linsky at the State House. Photo by Reed Young of TIME Magazine
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L to R: MGH Down Syndrome Program team members Dr. Brian Skotko, Tomi Toller, Ben Majewski and Helen Weiner pictured with the MDSC's Maureen Gallagher and Sarah Cullen during a visit to our Burlington office last week.
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In collaboration with MassGeneral Hospital for Children, Massachusetts General Hospital is proud to announce the opening of the its comprehensive Down Syndrome Program.
In state-of-the-art facilities, the program will offer four distinct multidisciplinary clinics for people of all ages with Down syndrome: Infant and Toddler Clinic (ages 0-5), Child Clinic (ages 5-13), Adolescent and Young Adult Clinic (ages 13-21), and Adult Clinic (21 and older). In each clinic the person with Down syndrome will be cared for by an expert team of healthcare professionals from Mass General or MassGeneral Hospital for Children, and Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.
The staff includes clinical co-directors Dr. Allie T. Schwartz and Dr. Brian G. Skotko, physicians Dr. Jose C. Florez, Dr. Thalia Margalit Krakower and Dr. Jessica B. McCannon, Program Coordinator Tomi L. Toler, Self-Advocate Resource Specialis Ben Majewski, and Social Worker Helen Weiner. See their complete bios here.
As a Boston-based organization, we at the MDSC feel incredibly fortunate to have two world-class Down syndrome medical programs in our backyard: the revamped MGH program and the always stellar Boston Children's Hospital Down Syndrome Program. We look forward to a bright future partnering closely with both these programs to serve people with Down syndrome in the Northeast and beyond.
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A.I.M. member Caroline Shea discusses Google's
latest tools with Google staffer Kristin Greene.
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Members of the MDSC's Advocates in Motion program got to see what work-life is like in the space-age offices of Google Boston (which is actually located in Kendall Square, Cambridge), where more than 200 employees have worked on engineering and community projects since 2003.
A.I.M, the MDSC's activity program for 13 to 22-year-olds with Down syndrome, was invited to Google's office to be trained by its team of "Googlers" on its latest tools and products. The A.I.M. crew appreciates the warmth and good cheer of the entire Google Boston staff. See our photo album on Facebook here.
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