Edmonton Down Syndrome Society

the edmonton down syndrome family support group was started in 1985, when a group of four families who had new babies with down syndrome, found themselves on a waitlist for services. the families learned in this group, how different each child was and how much they resembled their own families. they shared information about services, resources and practical suggestions based on their own child-rearing experiences. in july 1995 a full not for profit registered charity was formed by the families to help raise awareness and funding for people born with ds. in partnership with ahs, the edss funded a pilot project to develop a pediatric down syndrome medical clinic at the stollery children’s hospital. we provided funding for a full-time nurse for 2 years to support the clinic. the project was so successful the program received full funding through alberta health services and now carries a caseload of over 400 children. in 2010 we opened the edmonton down syndrome society at our current loca