Did you know that supporting families with babies, children and teenagers with Down syndrome is one of the things we do at DSV?
Over the next few months, we are going to share what some of our DSV teams and programs provide to our community.
We offer support, encouragement, information and resources to families, including pre- and postnatal support for new parents.
We believe families have the right to feel supported in their choices, no matter which paths they choose. We aim to provide balanced, researched information so that families can make informed decisions about how best to raise their children.
Prenatal support continues to be an area of growth for DSV. We are increasingly meeting families in the very early days before their babies are born. Last year we had the highest number of prenatal families ever make contact with us!
The focus of our family support team and programs remains centred around building strong relationships, providing up-to-date information and supporting families to make decisions that are best suited and aligned with their needs.
What we offer
We help build community and knowledge, and foster connections between families through:
- events like the new parents morning tea and peer-to-peer introductions
- hosting workshops on early years topics
- supporting families to navigate disability and medical services, including answering questions about the NDIS and the evolving NDIS landscape, helping families understand, apply for and navigate their NDIS plans
- providing monthly outreach to families via the T21 Clinic at the Royal Children’s Hospital, who we work closely with to ensure the best possible health outcomes and ensure families can learn more about DSV and have their support needs met
- MyTime, a peer support program for parents and caregivers of children aged 0 to 18 years with a disability, developmental delay or chronic medical condition, where you can have some time for yourself to connect with other parents and caregivers
- offering consultation to other service providers working with families with children with Down syndrome
- hospital and home visits
- hosting and moderating a closed Facebook group for parents and carers
- giving Perfect Gift boxes to families with newborns.
Perfect Gift
DSV has delivered over 100 Perfect Gift boxes! We continue to collaborate with Cathy Gibb and the volunteers from Hume Retirement Village who work tirelessly so that DSV can deliver an abundant gift filled with handpicked and handmade baby items to all our new families, offering congratulations and celebration on the arrival of their babies. Thank you to Cathy and the volunteers at Hume Retirement Village for all your hard work!
More information
If you are expecting a baby or have a younger family member with Down syndrome, we welcome you to find out more and get involved in our program, workshops and events at our website, including the upcoming 2025 new parents morning tea on Friday 13 June in Carlton.