The Mile High Down Syndrome Association has gotten a $60,000 Daniels Fund grant to help it expand services into rural areas of the state, and to launch new programs for adults.
MacMacsovits, executive director of MHDSA, said the organization is now looking at what and where the needs are in rural areas of the state.
“We are specifically looking at Weld, Granby, Moffat counties in the northwest, Logan county in the northeast, Ouray, Mesa, Delta, and Montrose counties in the southwest,” Mascovits said in an email.
In the past, individuals with Down syndrome rarely lived into adulthood. However, advances in medical treatment, along with ending the once-prevalent practice of institutionalizing them, have made it common for people with Down syndrome to live well into middle age.
According to the Mile High Down Syndrome Association website, “This is the first generation of individuals with Down syndrome to age.”
Along with that progress comes new challenges for organizations like MHDSA, which had been accustomed to providing srvices only for children.
Mascovits said his organization estimates that there are 6,000 people in Colorado with Down syndrome, but said there are no estimates of how many of them are adults.
Down syndrome is the most frequent occurring chromosomal abnormality, occurring once in every 690 live births. In addition to distinctive facial characteristics, the condition often results in cognitive delays and heart defects.
