Sarah Bookout is a Bilingual Speech Language Pathologist at GraySpeak Therapy. She attended the University of Texas at Austin where she received her bachelor's degree in communication sciences and disorders in 2018 and her master's degree from the University of Northern Colorado in 2020. Her career involves helping those with Down syndrome achieve speech clarity and independence. She has discovered a passion for working with teens and adults with moderate to severe speech and language disorders and uses techniques to improve speech clarity that prepare her clients for improved social skills that enable them to build relationships, pursue jobs, and establish personal interests. Her clients practice functional communication and life skills by targeting executive functioning, short term/working memory, and motor planning. She has a certification in LSVT (Lee Silverman Voice Training) LOUD and uses the program with children, teens, and adults to increase speech intelligibility, sentence length, and vocal confidence through "being loud". Her goal is to help children, teens, and adults with Down Syndrome become independent by using their voice. https://gigisplayhouse.org/ https://www.lsvtglobal.com/ https://www.connectedspeech.org/   If you would like to suggest a topic for us to cover on the podcast, please send an e-mail to [email protected]. If you would like to partner with the Down Syndrome Center, including this podcast, please visit https://givetochildrens.org/downsyndromecenter. We are thankful for the generous donation from Caring for Kids – The Carrie Martin Fund that provides the funding for the podcast recording equipment and hosting costs for this podcast.

Dr. Jaclyn Ford is a Research Assistant Professor in the Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory (https://Bclearningmemory.com) in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Boston College. Her research examines the effects of emotion and social relevance on memory retrieval processes, focusing on how individual differences in retrieval goals and context may modulate these effects. She utilizes behavioral and neuroimaging methods to characterize these changes in an attempt to better support memory retrieval in individuals with memory impairments.   If you would like to suggest a topic for us to cover on the podcast, please send an e-mail to [email protected]. If you would like to partner with the Down Syndrome Center, including this podcast, please visit https://givetochildrens.org/downsyndromecenter. We are thankful for the generous donation from Caring for Kids – The Carrie Martin Fund that provides the funding for the podcast recording equipment and hosting costs for this podcast.

The National Down Syndrome Congress (NDSC) is having a Policy Summit September 29-30, 2026 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel and Capitol Hill in Washington DC.  And YOU are invited to be there!  NDSC Policy Team members Heather Sachs, Jawanda Mast, and Adrian Forsythe joined the podcast today to talk about this amazing event.   For more details on the Summit, go to https://ndsccenter.org/policy/ndsc-down-syndrome-policy-summit/.   To join the National Down Syndrome Advocacy Coalition (NDAC), go to https://ndsccenter.org/policy/national-down-syndrome-advocacy-coalition-ndac/.   If you would like to suggest a topic for us to cover on the podcast, please send an e-mail to [email protected]. If you would like to partner with the Down Syndrome Center, including this podcast, please visit https://givetochildrens.org/downsyndromecenter. We are thankful for the generous donation from Caring for Kids – The Carrie Martin Fund that provides the funding for the podcast recording equipment and hosting costs for this podcast.

Drs. Jay Nair and Helen Milligan are both doctors of Physical Therapy at Thomas Jefferson University.  They joined us on the podcast today to talk about the concept of a Central Neural Drive and how this impacts people with Down syndrome.  They are conducting a study on this topic and are looking for participants.  For more information on the study, contact Dana R. Johnsn at [email protected], 215-326-9153.     If you would like to suggest a topic for us to cover on the podcast, please send an e-mail to [email protected]. If you would like to partner with the Down Syndrome Center, including this podcast, please visit https://givetochildrens.org/downsyndromecenter. We are thankful for the generous donation from Caring for Kids – The Carrie Martin Fund that provides the funding for the podcast recording equipment and hosting costs for this podcast.

Tracy Pellegrino is a social worker and Program Coordinator for the SMILE Stella Tremonti DS Clinic with Advent Health in Orlando, Florida.  She joined the podcast to talk about the often neglected topic of grief in caregivers of people with Down syndrome.   If you would like to suggest a topic for us to cover on the podcast, please send an e-mail to [email protected]. If you would like to partner with the Down Syndrome Center, including this podcast, please visit https://givetochildrens.org/downsyndromecenter. We are thankful for the generous donation from Caring for Kids – The Carrie Martin Fund that provides the funding for the podcast recording equipment and hosting costs for this podcast.

Dr. Sarah Mann joined the podcast along with 2 of her coaches (Coach Helen and Coach Hannah) to discuss their perspectives on scoliosis, hip issues, knee issues, and feet issues in Down syndrome.   Resources SuggestedNDSS CARE-DS (https://careds.org) Adult Down Syndrome Center (https://adscresources.advocatehealth.com/) Adult Healthcare Guidelines (https://www.globaldownsyndrome.org/medical-care-guidelines-for-adults/)   If you would like to suggest a topic for us to cover on the podcast, please send an e-mail to [email protected]. If you would like to partner with the Down Syndrome Center, including this podcast, please visit https://givetochildrens.org/downsyndromecenter. We are thankful for the generous donation from Caring for Kids – The Carrie Martin Fund that provides the funding for the podcast recording equipment and hosting costs for this podcast.  

There have been many recent changes to the U.S. dietary guidelines.  Shannon Frizzell, the dietician for the Down Syndrome Center of Western Pennyslvania, joined the podcast to discuss the impact for people with Down syndrome.   If you would like to suggest a topic for us to cover on the podcast, please send an e-mail to [email protected]. If you would like to partner with the Down Syndrome Center, including this podcast, please visit https://givetochildrens.org/downsyndromecenter. We are thankful for the generous donation from Caring for Kids – The Carrie Martin Fund that provides the funding for the podcast recording equipment and hosting costs for this podcast.

It is so difficult these days to tell the difference between evidence based science v. conjecture.  Frequently, there are many claims that people can make that are not necessarily backed in scientific fact.  The use of leucovorin to address symptoms in autism as well as in Down syndrome has been advocated by some groups.  Dr. Lauren Gist and Dr. Robyn Filipink joined the podcast today to address this important topic.   If you would like to suggest a topic for us to cover on the podcast, please send an e-mail to [email protected]. If you would like to partner with the Down Syndrome Center, including this podcast, please visit https://givetochildrens.org/downsyndromecenter. We are thankful for the generous donation from Caring for Kids – The Carrie Martin Fund that provides the funding for the podcast recording equipment and hosting costs for this podcast.

There have been many recent changes to the recommended vaccination schedule in the U.S.  Friend of the podcast, Dr. Andrew Nowalk, returns to the podcast to talk about emerging infectious diseases as well as how these recent guideline changes may impact directly people with Down syndrome.   If you would like to suggest a topic for us to cover on the podcast, please send an e-mail to [email protected]. If you would like to partner with the Down Syndrome Center, including this podcast, please visit https://givetochildrens.org/downsyndromecenter. We are thankful for the generous donation from Caring for Kids – The Carrie Martin Fund that provides the funding for the podcast recording equipment and hosting costs for this podcast.

Dr. Thessa Hilgenkamp Associate Professor in Physical Therapy at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, joined the podcast today to talk about the unique nature of exercise in people with Down syndrome. RESOURCES ACSM Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, Chapter 11 Intellectual Disability and Down syndrome Development of a Physical Therapy-Based Exercise Program for Adults with Down Syndrome: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9960831/ Exercise program: https://www.mannmethodpt.com/uploads/5/0/1/2/50127693/012026_mmpt_table_2_with_images.pdf or https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/ijerph20043667/s1 The International Summit on Health Benefits of Physical Fitness for People With Down Syndrome: Current Science, Gaps, Priorities, and Research Opportunities: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40977151/    If you would like to suggest a topic for us to cover on the podcast, please send an e-mail to [email protected]. If you would like to partner with the Down Syndrome Center, including this podcast, please visit https://givetochildrens.org/downsyndromecenter. We are thankful for the generous donation from Caring for Kids – The Carrie Martin Fund that provides the funding for the podcast recording equipment and hosting costs for this podcast.