Teen Nights was created in August of 2005 to offer our teens a monthly event where they could gather and connect while doing something fun and exciting. It offers our teens an opportunity to learn at the same time. One of the goals of the program from the outset was to have it be run by our teens (with help where needed) so they could all have an opportunity to create and organize an event for themselves. All this in a safe and chaperoned environment.

If you require further information or would like to register, please contact teens@ldsa.ca and/or complete and forward the Teens Registration Form.

Started in the Fall of 2006, our Tweens Club offers yet again a fantastic opportunity for our members of a certain age to socialize and have fun. Many more parents and siblings tend to enjoy these too. Our experience is showing that these friendships are already very strong and will likely continue for most of these youngsters lives.

If you require further information or would like to register, please contact tweens@ldsa.ca and/or complete and forward the Tweens Registration Form.

A few years ago, we surveyed our membership to find out what they most wanted from their association. Resoundingly, what came back was a need for speech therapy. Historically, speech therapy is hard to find, little is offered through the school system, and it is very expensive. It is also critically important for most individuals with Down Syndrome. An attempt was made to develop a program ourselves but this proved too difficult to put together at the time, and the cost was prohibitive to say the least. One of our members was in the process of developing DSRI (see below) which has a very strong speech therapy component. As this served our speech therapy mandates, we have striven to contribute to this worthy organization in the form of funds directed specifically towards speech therapy. Since then, we have been able to create our own program which we call ‘Camp Talk About It’. It was created in collaboration with Liz MacKinnon of Rehab Place in Lambeth, Ontario. We have been able to offer this program to a specific age group for now and it has proved to be very effective. The LDSA has contributed heavily to this program which offers intensive speech therapy in a fun and enjoyable format. All at a very reduced cost to families. It is run in sessions of 8 weeks, for 3 hours every Saturday for the duration. Our goal is to expand the program to different age groups and offer the sessions more often. As well, we strive to reduce the cost to families as much as possible.

DSRI was founded in 2005 by Andy Loebus who was inspired by the philosophy and activities of the Down Syndrome Research Foundation of Burnaby, British Columbia. Andy was also motivated by the educational circumstances of his own son Kristov, and the obvious need to investigate more effective strategies for teaching students with Down syndrome. The LDSA has supported DSRI since it’s creation and will continue to do so wherever possible. It has served and continues to do so, our mandate of offering speech therapy and supporting individuals with Down Syndrome. For further information, please click on the DSRI logo to be brought directly to their website.

Come out and enjoy putting together your fondest memories of family and friends. This club meets regularly to cut, paste, beautify etc… Nice thing too is you get to bring home your creations and cherish them for years to come.

If you would be interested in joining this vibrant group, please contact scrapbooking@ldsa.ca .

Another of our yearly events is our ever popular visit from Santa. Activities for the kids are a plenty and everyone gets a chance (if they so choose) to sit on Santa’s lap to announce their wishes for the upcoming Christmas season.

We have been fortunate enough to be included in the City of London’s Community Suite program. The suite is made available to local charities on a draw basis. Most sporting and entertainment events are available in this program and many of our members have enjoyed an evening they will not soon forget. Think; London Knights Hockey, Elton John, Wiggles, Hillary Duff, NHL Exhibition Games. We continue to put our name in the hat for many events, stay tuned for our next event.

We have a fundraising committee charged with the task of raising the much needed funds that create the programs and services we offer. Lets face it, without funds, most of what we do would simply be impossible. This committee works hard year round to put together our Silent Auction, Dinner and Dance, Donation and Sponsorship Programs and Merchandise just to name a few. If you would like to help this committee or contribute to the association, please contact president@ldsa.ca or visit the Donations and Sponsorship sections of the home page.

This is an all important piece of information that we provide to new families. Being new parents can be stressful enough, and this can be compounded with the news that your newborn has Down Syndrome. The package consists of a large amount of general information on Down Syndrome, supports available through the LDSA as well as a ton of information regarding the local supports that are available through various other agencies and associations. It is offered at no cost to the families that require the information. We currently make available and distribute the packages in a few different ways. Both St.Joe’s and Children’s Hospital of London have copies readily available when a new diagnosis is made. As well, the Health Units and their nurses for London, Woodstock and Stratford also have copies at hand when needed. Copies are also available by contacting us directly president@ldsa.ca .

One of the most important services we can provide is being there for individuals in times of need or crisis. We have a great number of members and associated professionals who are available to help, no matter what the issue. If you, your family or friends is in need of assistance, it is very likely that one of us has been through it before and can likely help. Reach out and we will be there for you.

We are happy to provide a wide selection of published resources that are readily available mostly through the London Public Library’s Central Branch, but other branches also. Feel free to borrow these resources in accordance with the library’s borrowing policies. If there are certain publications that you cannot find that you would like to see available, please let us know. We have also put together a list of suggested reading you may find useful. Click the button below to access this list.

Our newsletter is one of our most effective ways of keeping our membership and many others informed. It is chock full of interesting and informative interviews, articles, stories and just about anything else we can think of. It is distributed in hardcopy to all members as well as key points throughout our service area in the hopes of raising awareness and advising people of our events. Our website, through it’s subscribe function, electronically distributes every new newsletter, locally, nationally and in fact internationally as well. The links on the side will get you to our current issue , dozens of past issues or allow you to subscribe to get an automatic electronic version (that’s also printable) via e-mail whenever a new issue is published.

If you are reading this, you’re in it.
My apologies, I couldn’t resist!

Our website, from it’s inception, was designed to offer a truly centralized venue for everything that the LDSA is and does. I hope you find it useful. Our complete website revamp over the winter and summer of 2007 would not have been possible without the generous sponsorship of Start Communications. By clicking their logo, you can access their many excellent services. Mention the LDSA sent you too! If you should have any suggestions, concerns or comments please feel free to contact me at webmaster@ldsa.ca ENJOY!

The LDSA holds 2 Annual General Meetings, giving our membership as well as any other interested parties the opportunity to have their say and contribute in any way they would like. One of these meetings also incorporates our general elections where Executive Committee members are nominated , voted on and ultimately assigned.

One of the LDSA’s main mandates is to increase awareness of Down Syndrome and it’s related conditions. We do this in several ways. We are members of both the provincial Down Syndrome Association of Ontario as well as the national Canadian Down Syndrome Society. Down Syndrome Awareness week is November 1 through 7 every year and we host an awareness walk where several of our members tour downtown London, Ontario, big banner in hand. We also attend several Pre-Natal Fairs with our information booth, with the goal of disseminating the most current and accurate information available.We also attend several other events throughout the year with the hopes of increasing awareness in general.

We currently offer T-Shirts and Awareness Wristbands which are available through the LDSA Store.

There is an initiative underway with several community partners to offer standardized programs, lectures, presentations etc… that we are a major partner of. The collaboration is as yet unnamed but will be available shortly. The main goal was to offer certain services centrally as opposed to several agencies offering the same type of service, at huge cost to everybody. These items that tend to repeat themselves across several agencies will now become available to all. A calendar will be developed and a website available listing the events throughout the year. Stay tuned, this initiative will be on our homepage with links to the calendar as soon as it is available.