Welcome to the dsMHp website (beta version)
The Down Syndrome Mental Health Project dsMHp is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 charitable organization founded to disseminate knowledge and promote informed understanding about personhood and the cognitive, behavioral and mental health aspects of Down syndrome. Incorporated in 2008, it has taken until now to raise the necessary funds and perform the many hours of research and writing to create the content for this site
Our Motivation
There has been little emphasis within our Down syndrome community for creating a forum to present ideas, information and decision support tools for families living with complex needs or dual-diagnosis specific to Down syndrome. In many states within the U.S. and abroad the medical and behavioral-mental health care systems, state and local government appear unable to sustain a system of support required by many of our families
Our Goals
The dsMHp is about the quest for answers to complex questions…the democratization of knowledge…and providing access to the relevant information and opinion you require to make informed decisions about your child or family member. The dsMHp exists to create an informational support system to serve families and professionals regardless of where they live
…Welcome to dsMHp
Who We Are
An educationally-minded community of families and professionals who care about:
- Improving the quality of mental health for persons with Down syndrome and their families
- Promoting best-practices in medical, behavioral and mental-health services that emphasize problem-solving strategies using available community resources and specialty care
- Synthesizing and disseminating the growing body of person-centered research in the behavioral and social sciences, medicine and the neurosciences which can educate our community
Who We Are Not
- A political advocacy organization
- A research foundation
- A provider of individualized medical, psychiatric, behavioral or mental health treatment
What We Do
- Assist families, educators, therapists, physicians and healthcare providers to access a curated collection of electronic resources intended to improve understanding, problem-solving and decision-making around complex behavioral, mental health and related medical conditions which affects persons with Down syndrome.
- Promote general understanding, by providing access to information from the medical, scientific and social sciences and other forms of empirical knowledge sometimes considered difficult to gather, academically privileged, unfashionable, obscure or of historical interest
What We Do Not
- Serve as a substitute for a comprehensive, medical, behavioral or psychiatric evaluation by a qualified practitioner
- Provide individualized evaluation, treatment or management for medical, behavioral or psychiatric symptoms
- Receive or respond to individual questions or concerns about your child or family member
- We do not and cannot practice electronic medicine, behavior or mental health care