4 August 2025
We’re thrilled to share a monthly update from the Down Syndrome Advisory Network (DSAN) – a national group of people with Down syndrome who meet fortnightly to build their skills and share their views. This month, we hear from Anna Gray.
Hi, my name is Anna Gray and I will be telling you about what we have been doing in DSAN.
I have been with DSAN since November last year and I have learnt about advocacy and how to be a team member.
I really like DSANs vision and I like doing the tasks.
I also really like meeting new people.
I like making sure that people are treated fairly and can make their own choices and live independently.
What we did in July
We had Kate and Alyssa from the Marketing and Communications team at Down Syndrome Australia visit our meeting. They gave a presentation on ‘What are Marketing and Communications?’
I learnt about advertising and how to communicate a message. We learnt that you can do this on a website or make a video.
I liked making my video for Disability Pride Month where I did a video about me being proud to make healthy meals, I made an overnight easy berry and banana oat bowl.
I also liked making my video for International Friendship Day where I said that I value my friendship with my sister Lucie as she is always there for me. We sang ‘I’m Popular’ together from Wicked the Musical.
In our meetings we talked about our vision and we came up with the following:
DSAN’s vision is for a world:
- where we are valued for who we are as people
- where we can choose to live independently
- where we can have a connection with ourselves and have friendships
- where we can make our own choices and supported decisions
- where we are all treated equally.
We also have finished our Mission.
Our Mission is to:
- break down barriers
- challenge people’s views
- create opportunities for inclusion nationally.
We want to have a voice and help others to have a voice.
We want to create a positive and meaningful impact.
I have interest in education and open employment and making it fair for everyone.
We also worked out what our goals are, they are:
- Become better advocates
- Develop leadership skills
- Speak up about rights
- Advocate and promote inclusion
- Work as a team
We will be finishing our Values at our next meeting.
We are looking forward to working more with the Advocacy Team on finishing our Position Statement on Employment.
I am also looking forward to hearing about leadership from Claire who used to be in the Down Syndrome Advisory Network and is on the Down Syndrome Australia Board in a couple of meetings time.
I want to learn about the skills to become a good leader and what values you need and how people can stand up for their rights. It will be good to share our ideas about leadership.
Thank you for reading my update and have a really great week!
