Health trajectory of mothers of children with developmental disabilities shows a ‘wear-and-tear’ effect starting around age 65
Mothers of children with developmental disabilities experience long-term stress, adapting for many years but showing signs of ‘wear-and-tear’ starting around age 65, affecting their physical and mental health.
June 5, 2025
Statewide Success: Managing Threatening Confrontations Training Enhances Disability Support for Thousands
It focuses on teaching proactive and positive strategies for supporting individuals with disabilities through a broad range of behaviors and escalation levels.
April 8, 2025
New Insights into Language Development: The Role of Joint Attention in Kids with Down Syndrome and Autism
Attention is a key component of learning. Think of how hard it is to learn someone’s name if all you can think about is the eyelash on their cheek. The same can be said for language learning.
March 25, 2025
A Family’s Committment to Down Syndrome Research at the Waisman Center Spans Four Decades and Counting
When Heather Huismann was in middle school she called the police on her teacher. “He was not teaching me very well,” Heather says.
March 17, 2025
What research has revealed about Down syndrome’s influence on brain development
A new review paper published in Nature Reviews Neuroscience from Bhattacharyya, associate professor of cell and regenerative biology, pulls together what is currently known about DS’s impact on brain development.
February 13, 2025
Hearing loss and cognition both play a role in speech recognition for young adults with Down syndrome
For young adults with Down syndrome, understanding speech is not only related to hearing abilities, but it may also be impacted by cognition.
December 4, 2024
NIH establishes $20 million program to study Down syndrome from birth to adulthood
Researchers at the Waisman Center are included in a recently launched a new long-term study to observe and track health data of people with Down syndrome from birth to adulthood
October 24, 2024
Sigan Hartley, research team receive $9 million National Institutes of Health grant to study Down syndrome
Sigan Hartley, 100 Women Distinguished Chair in Human Ecology and Human Development & Family Studies professor, and a team of researchers have received a $9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
October 24, 2024
Waisman Center IDDRC funds three pilot projects on novel Down syndrome research
Three Waisman Center investigators and affiliates were awarded an internal grant to support Down syndrome research in its early stages. The funds were made possible through the Ann Dewey Down Syndrome Catalyst Fund at the Waisman Center.
August 1, 2024
Triple the effort: Clinics, research, and education on Down syndrome at the Waisman Center
Down syndrome is a genetic condition in which all cells in a person’s body have an extra copy of chromosome 21, also known as trisomy 21. Having this extra chromosome affects how an individual’s body …
March 20, 2024
Earliest effects of chromosome 21 triplication in brain development discovered
It is well established that brain development looks different for individuals with Down syndrome, but how early do these differences appear?
March 15, 2024
Researcher clinicians help bridge the gap between scientific discovery and medical care – Part 1
Research and clinical services go hand in hand. One can’t effectively work without the other.
January 9, 2024
Waisman BioLibrary: Building a database to boost genetic research on intellectual and developmental disabilities now and for the future
The end goal is to build a collection of information for multiple disorders, the first one being Down syndrome.
December 15, 2023
Fit Families makes exercise accessible to children with disabilities
Families and their children with intellectual and developmental disabilities often face many barriers to getting accessibility to exercise.
December 7, 2023
Branching out beyond where it’s planted: The story of the Waisman Center’s University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, Part 2
Former UCEDD director Bill MacLean with current director Leann DaWalt.
December 6, 2023- More Down Syndrome posts
Advancing knowledge of human development, developmental disabilities, and neurodegenerative diseases.