3 November 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 Alison.
Hello, it’s Alison here from Down Syndrome Australia!
I am in the Inclusion Lead and one of my jobs is to coordinate DSAN.
I live on the lands of the Bidjigal people in Sydney with my Mum and my dog Buddy.
I like to swim in the ocean, walk my dog, pick flowers, see theatre and drink cups of chai with my friends.
I also like making sure things are inclusive and accessible for all members of our community.
This month the DSAN crew had some training from Nathan who is the editor of our Voice magazine.
They learnt how to write a magazine article. They learnt about choosing a topic, thinking about the audience who may be reading it and anyone they may like to interview about the topic.
Many DSAN members also contributed health tips and a quote about how important their pets are to them for the December issue of Voice, so keep an eye out for it.
They also made a short video for International Day of People with Disability on December 3 talking about what they are proud of achieving.
It is great to hear about how each member has so many and varied interests and live full and active lives that they are proud of!
DSA’s Board Director David Fuller came and visited DSAN to talk about what he thinks makes a good leader.
We have had 3 Board Directors come and speak and meet with DSAN now which has been a great chance for them to get to know each other and learn more about leadership.
We also went over our Vision, Mission, Goals, Values and Rules again as a reminder for those have been on DSAN for most of this year and for new members to get to know them better.
DSAN also provided tips to on they organise themselves for their work on DSAN.
Some members print out their meeting papers and keep in a folder, some set reminders on their calendar and phone so they remember when meetings are on and some use text to speech software or AI to help read out things to them.
Our final meeting of the year we will meet Board member Gemma Namey and also Down Syndrome Australia’s CEO Darryl Steff. We also will talk about plans for 2026.
Thank you for reading our monthly updates and we look forward to sharing more with you in 2026!
