Our mission is to empower children and adults with developmental disabilities to achieve their potential based on personal choices, abilities and interests...

Westchester Arc
The Gleeson-Israel Gateway Center
265 Saw Mill River Road
Hawthorne, NY 10532
914.949.9300
info@westchesterarc.org

24-hour
Crisis Intervention:
914.949.8200

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New Parents

The birth of a baby is a moment of great joy. For new parents of a baby with Down syndrome, that joy is often mixed with uncertainty about what Down syndrome is and how it will affect their child and the rest of their family.

PACDS parents have all faced these questions and fears. While learning that your baby has Down syndrome is initially painful and scary, talking to PACDS parents can be tremendously helpful in assuring new parents that raising a child with Down syndrome can be a rich and rewarding journey. The diagnosis of Down syndrome means that your family will walk down a different path than the one you envisioned--a path with its own joys and challenges that has been traveled by many families all over the world.

We encourage you to learn all you can about Down syndrome. Read the books, surf the web, talk to other parents, join the organizations, become involved. It will prove to be a rich and rewarding experience -- and one that will ultimately benefit you and your child.

One of the first contacts you should make is with the Westchester County Department of Health,
Services for Children with Disabilities, http://www.westchestergov.com/health/EIP.htm,
(914) 813-5094. They will assist you in obtaining Early Intervention (EI) services for your child. EI services cover various therapies in the home and pertain to children through age three. At age three, the pre-school program takes over and is administered by your local school district. EI services might typically include speech therapy, occupational or physical therapy, special education services and respite services. A service coordinator will be assigned, who will help you navigate the system and have initial evaluations performed so that services can begin. For the most part, services are provided at no cost to the families.

» Click here to request a "New Parent Package"

» Click here for Westchester Arc Early Intervention Programs

A rich and rewarding journey