Ageing and future aspirations: Navigating Ever-Changing Seas
2025-10-20 12:00 - 14:00 (Pacific/Auckland) | Zoom, New Zealand
20th October at 12pmFocus: Improved Aging-Improved Lives
Audience: Parents, whānau and professionals
Navigating Ever-Changing Seas is a new model for understanding the experiences of ageing people with intellectual (learning) disabilities and the family/whānau who support them. These relationships can be complex and change over time, often involving multiple generations. Everyone’s experience is shaped by their identity, relationships, past and present support, and the wider community and social context. Understanding these perspectives helps guide future planning, support practices, service development, research, and inclusive policies.
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Improving Brain Health for people with Down syndrome
2025-10-20 19:30 - 21:00
20th October at 7.30pmFocus: Improved Aging-Improved Lives
Audience: Parents, whānau and professionals
People with Down syndrome are at increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease. This talk will discuss common symptoms of dementia, and how medical specialists can assess memory and brain health. It will cover current and emerging treatments. Lastly, it will cover how to optimise brain health across all life stages.
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Building Capability Through Supported Independence
2025-10-21 12:00 - 14:00
21st October at 12pmFocus: Improved Wellbeing and Resilience–Improved Lives
Audience: Parents, whānau and professionals
Dr Maree Kirk’s presentation situates the World Down Syndrome 2025 theme — Improved Support, Improved Lives — within the New Zealand context. Drawing on her PhD research, she developed the theory of wellbeing for children with a disability, which identified three principles of acceptance, recognition, and supported independence. She highlights how capability must be intentionally built across home, school, and community. Supported independence is not about doing everything alone, but about balancing autonomy and support to enable full participation in education, family, and community life. Maree also shares insights from recent Ministry of Education pilot projects and the national Network of Expertise (NEX) contract, alongside findings from her action research on the Transition Capability Pathway. Her presentation shows how family-led, holistic, and rights-based approaches to support can transform independence and inclusion for learners with Down syndrome.
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Empowering Self-determination with Volition
2025-10-21 19:30 - 21:00
21st October at 7.30pmFocus: Improved Supported Decision-Making-Improved Lives
Audience: All
Having choice and control in your life starts with knowing what is important to you and then telling others. This session will walk through Volition, a new app that empowers Decision Makers to work with their Supporters to understand and communicate the things that matter to them.
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