Promoting Emotional Resilience in People with Down Syndrome

This event will be held ONLINE and IN PERSON

Join us on Saturday, July 16, 2022 from 2:00 – 4:00

The IN PERSON event will be held at DSANV

10467 White Granite Ave.

Oakton, VA 22124

People with Down syndrome are at increased risk for stress, anxiety, and depression. In this interactive workshop, Dr. Brown will present some of her recent research findings on mental health in people with Down syndrome, including how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted people with Down syndrome and their families. Then, using role-plays she will provide caregivers with some simple evidence-based tools for teaching emotion skills to children and adults with Down syndrome. She will also discuss how to tell if a behavior or mental health symptom is “just DS” or something more serious and how to seek help. Participants will receive download links for free resources including emotion flash cards and a “Blues Busters” workbook to take home and keep practicing.  

In this session, you will learn… 

• how to help your child build an emotion vocabulary with fun activities, 
• how to use emotion coaching to help them cope with stress and big emotions, 
• how to use healthy mood enhancing activities to promote resilience, and
• how to identify mental health red flags in people with DS. 

Dr. Ruth Brown, PhD, is a Clinical Psychologist, an Assistant Professor at the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics at Virginia Commonwealth University, and a member of the Down Syndrome Medical Interest Group. Her research is dedicated to improving the mental health care of people with Down syndrome and other intellectual and developmental disabilities. She has partnered with families and self-advocates with Down syndrome for the last 9 years. It is her hope that her research will lead to improved detection, prevention, and treatment of stress, anxiety, and depression of people with Down syndrome and intellectual and developmental disabilities.