Down Syndrome Awareness Week

An important aspect of raising awareness is reminding ourselves and others to ask:

‘What is needed to ensure individuals who have Down syndrome have access to the same opportunities as everyone else?’

Access to quality education and healthcare, the chance to work and earn money, to make
decisions about their own lives and to have their voices heard – opportunities many of us are
likely to take for granted at some point in our own lives.

It also amplies the efforts made by individuals and groups within the Down syndrome
community who work together tirelessly all year round to drive forward positive changes through improvements to inclusion and equality.

For family members or friends, it is a celebration of the joy a loved one with Down syndrome brings to our lives, in spite of the inequalities they face in so many aspects of their own.

These challenges are often the result of outdated and inaccurate stereotypes rooted in the past. Progress has been made, but many important changes are still needed. Asking individuals and their families to share their stories and responding to what they have to say is the most powerful way to understand what it means to have Down syndrome – that one extra copy of the 21st chromosome – today.