Our Mission

The mission of the Denver Adult Down Syndrome Clinic is to provide quality health care to adolescents and adults with Down syndrome, education for the families and care givers, and consultative services for their health providers.

The Denver Adult Down Syndrome Clinic is a regional referral clinic designed to provide medical and psychosocial evaluations for adults with Down syndrome. The Clinic also offers support to family members and caretakers regarding aging issues that affect persons with Down syndrome.

A Resource for the Medical Community

A part of the Clinic’s vision is that it serve as a resource for general practice physicians and other members of the medical community, who need medical information concerning Down syndrome or medical evaluations of their patients. Laboratory testing and X-rays are available and are performed as necessary. An annual evaluation for a Clinic patient takes between two and three hours to complete. After the office visit, the Clinic provides a detailed report to the patient’s family, primary care provider, and other care providers, as requested. Examples of medical conditions that are more prominent in individuals with Down syndrome include mental health and behavior issues, orthopedic, thyroid, ENT, and cardiovascular disorders. For access to growth charts and medical information please visit our Resources page.

A Resource for Families and Guardians

The Denver Adult Down Syndrome Clinic is seeing increasingly more patients and families throughout the Colorado and neighboring states. An advantage to its location is the ability for a family to combine a medical evaluation at the Clinic with a consultation with orthopedists, cardiologists, and other medical specialists when recommended. Denver is home to some of the country’s most experienced specialists and hospitals for treating conditions which are common to individuals with Down syndrome. Additionally, the developmental assessments included in the written evaluation provided by the Clinic’s care providers in identifying social and other resources for enabling individuals with Down syndrome to create their own paths to fulfillment and success.

Self-Care Resource for Individuals with Down Syndrome

As independent living becomes more attainable to individuals with Down syndrome, it is important for the community to provide resources that foster these individuals’ abilities to care for themselves. While the Denver Adult Down Syndrome Clinic does not provide primary care services, the consultations and resources it provides are intended to foster self-care by adults with Down syndrome, who have the primary responsibility for monitoring their daily health. The information and links on the Patients & Families page of our web site are designed to complement information available at the Clinic in fostering independence and the determination of when medical help is required.

Helped to Pioneer Developmental Research

The Denver Adult Down Syndrome Clinic, in partnership with the Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, helped to pioneer research designed to improve the lives of individuals with Down syndrome. The Clinic was one of the sites in an international multi-center, double-blind study on the effect of Vitamin E in people with Down Syndrome who are 50 years of age and above. The study examined whether high doses of Vitamin E slow the cognitive decline of individuals with Down syndrome.