We hope you and your family had a wonderful summer! At the MDSC, we have been busy working on plans for another great year for our AIM: Teen and Young Adult Program for youth with Down syndrome ages 13 to 22. This year, we will focus on what it means to be healthy and AIM High! Each participant will be encouraged to set a goal for himself or herself, and we will track our progress as a group in reaching new milestones! Along the way, we will learn skills and tools that will help us to live full, healthy, Real Lives. We hope to see you soon!

The MDSC believes every individual with Down syndrome can become not just a self-advocate, but a strong self-advocate. We do this by making the empowerment of self-advocates a major component of all our programs for teens, young adults, and adults.

The MDSC’s AIM: Teen and Young Adult Program provides fun, inclusive, interactive events each month for teens and young adults 13 to 22. AIM participants develop leadership and self-advocacy skills, form meaningful relationships with peers, and build their self-confidence in an encouraging environment.

AIM members meet once a month on Sunday afternoons throughout the school year. These regular Sunday meetings take place at the Newton YMCA. Additional social opportunities are planned over the course of the year at various locations throughout Greater Boston.

AIM members not only have a good time. The program strives to enhance participants’ social skills, foster leadership and self-advocacy skills, boost self-confidence, promote fitness and healthy living, and provide knowledge of job and career options. AIM also provides community service opportunities, and encourages social relationships between youth with and without Down syndrome. 

In the past, AIM participants have:

• Practiced the art of meditation in yoga workshops
• Learned to recognize and respond effectively to unsafe situations
• Formed a team to participate in the MDSC’s Buddy Walk & Family Picnic
• Sharpened dribbling, passing, and shooting skills in basketball clinics
• Provided critical support for the MDSC runners in the Boston Marathon and walkers in the Walk for Hunger
• Joined youth from across New England at the MDSC Annual Conference
• Learned movement and expression techniques in theatre workshops
• Danced their hearts out at the AIM Holiday Party

Become an AIM member today!