Welcome to the Down syndrome presentation center.

Here you will find a growing collection of presentations developed by and for the community. These presentations are yours to use as you need them. And, thanks to the generous contributions of participating organizations, they are free of charge. No need to seek permission, no cost. Just follow the simple download instructions on this page and they are yours.

Each PowerPoint presentation here has been – or will be – created by professionals with strong connections to our community. Some are parents. Others, leaders of regional and local Down syndrome associations. Many are subject matter professionals, including members of the NDSC Professional Advisory Council. Finally, a few are people who just care and care deeply about our community.

This project began with the simple idea that the NDSC could bring talents, ideas and resources together from around the country to create a series of presentations that are expert, professional and compelling. The first of those, “Down Syndrome and the Education Challenge,” is now available for download to your computer. Others will follow.

Each will be composed of a set of PowerPoint slides and a script.

The slides are fixed graphics, but each presentation is or will be equipped with a slide template that allows addition of the name of your organization and logo if you wish.

The script presents the point of view and aspirations of parents and family members of people with Down syndrome. The material has been reviewed by professionals in the topics, but we make no pretense that those same professionals would address the subjects exactly as we have. In fact, where presentations are targeted at professional audiences – teachers for example – we invite them to apply their own judgment and independent research to what we have to say.

Where we have expressed our point of view, you may differ. While being careful of the factual content, please do so – please feel free to modify our script to reflect your point of view and convictions.

Finally, the scripts are intended to be presented by anybody called upon to address community groups. They may be read verbatim or you may develop you own language. Please do what makes you comfortable, while being careful of the underpinning facts and theories.

All involved in this project wish to extend our sincere thanks to those who participated in and support this initiative. They have given generously of time, financial resources and professional expertise to make these materials available free of charge to our entire community. They include Chesapeake Down Syndrome Parent Group; Down Syndrome Association of Greater St. Louis; Down Syndrome Association of Minnesota; Down Syndrome Association of Orange County; Down Syndrome Guild of Greater Kansas City; Down Syndrome Society of Rhode Island; National Association for Down Syndrome (NADS); Dr. John Rynders, University of Minnesota (Retired); Dr. Terri Fautsch-Patridge, University of Minnesota; The staff, board of directors and Professional Advisory Council of the National Down Syndrome Congress. Thanks to them all!

You may download a presentation to your computer by clicking on the title below. Be sure to download both the PowerPoint presentation and the companion script. PowerPoint files are large and will take time to download, even with broadband connections to the Internet. Please plan accordingly.

1. Down Syndrome and the Education Challenge
   PowerPoint    |    Script

2. Supporting People with Down Syndrome
   PowerPoint    |    Script

3. Breaking the News
   PowerPoint    |    Script