Abbreviation NDSC Headquarters Roswell, Georgia, USA President Dr. Marilyn Tolbert | Formation 1973 Official language English, Espanol | |
Purpose Educational, advocate, legal, research | ||
The National Down Syndrome Congress (NDSC) is a national not-for-profit organization that provides individuals, families, and health care providers information and support about Down syndrome, as well as advocating with and on behalf of individuals with Down syndrome.
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In recent years, the NDSC's most prominent campaign has been "We're More Alike Than Different."
History
The NDSC was an outgrowth of meetings held by the Arc of the United States, and the NDSC was officially formed in 1973. It was the first organization to focus specifically on the needs of individuals with Down syndrome, rather than generalized intellectual or cognitive disabilities. Though originally based in Illinois, the national headquarters is now in Atlanta, Georgia.
In 2014, Dr. Marilyn Tolbert, of Fort Worth, Texas, was elected president of the organization. Past presidents are Pete Starr (1973–1976), Owings Mills, Maryland; Sig Pueschel(1976–1977), East Greenwich, Rhode Island; Robert Glasgow (1977–1978), Washington, DC; Lucille Msall (1978–1979), Oak Park, Illinois; Diane Crutcher (1979–1982), Normal, Illinois; Tom O'Neill (1982–1985), Ft. Wayne, Indiana; Frank Murphy (1985–1988), Atlanta, Georgia; Kathleen Marafino (1988–1990), St. Louis, Missouri; Michal Clark (1990–1993), Bakersfield, California; Maureen Babula (1993–1996), Phillipsburg, New Jersey; Betty Hersey (1996–1999), Dallas, Texas; Jo Ann Simons (2000–2001) Swampscott, Massachusetts; Kathleen Marafino (2001–2002) Cicero, New York; Judy Martz (2002–2005) Littleton, Colorado; Rich Robison (2005–2008) Sudbury, Massachusetts; Brooks Robinson (2008-2011) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and James Faber (2011-2014) Monument, Colorado. Since 2003, David Tolleson has served as Executive Director.
Convention
Each year, the NDSC hosts a convention for individuals with DS and their families. The next convention will be held July 20 - 23, 2017 in Sacramento, California. This convention allows youth and adults with Down syndrome to gather and engage in a variety of social activities including dances and talent shows, as well as learning sessions, such as programs on moving toward marriage, scrap-booking, post-secondary education. Often these sessions are taught by other self-advocates.
The NDSC convention also works to bring in world-renowned researchers and experts on Down syndrome and education to speak to parents about a variety of issues across the lifespan from infant nutrition and early childhood education through high school transitions and job placement through aging and nutrition issues. In addition the convention offers programming for siblings (rising fourth through twelfth graders) of individuals with Down syndrome. Recent learning tracks have included sessions for adult siblings as well as families with a member who has a co-occurring diagnosis of Down syndrome and an autism spectrum disorder.
Throughout its history, the NDSC Annual Convention has moved around the United States. Past meeting sites are Anaheim, California (1973), Washington, DC (1974), Las Vegas, Nevada (1975), Indianapolis, Indiana (1976), New Orleans, Louisiana (1977), Boston, Massachusetts (1978), Atlanta, Georgia (1979), St. Louis, Missouri (1980), Portland, Oregon (1981), Chicago, Illinois (1982), Providence, Rhode Island (1983), San Antonio, Texas (1984), Anaheim, California (1985), Wichita, Kansas (1986), Washington, DC (1987), Cincinnati, Ohio (1988), Denver, Colorado (1989), Memphis, Tennessee (1990), Boston, Massachusetts (1991), Atlanta, Georgia (1992), Anaheim, California (1993), Minneapolis, Minnesota (1994), Washington, DC (1995), Miami Beach, Florida (1996), Phoenix, Arizona (1997), Dallas, Texas (1998), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (1999), Washington, DC (2000), Denver, Colorado (2002), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2003), Minneapolis, Minnesota (2004), Anaheim, California (2005), Atlanta, Georgia (2006), Kansas City, Missouri (2007), Boston, Massachusetts (2008), Sacramento, California (2009), Orlando,Florida (2010), San Antonio, Texas (2011), Washington, DC (2012), Denver, Colorado (2013), Indianapolis, Indiana (2014), Phoenix, Arizona (2015), and Orlando, Florida (2016). The 2001 Convention was cancelled due to the September 11 attacks.