Danbury High student creates peer network for Down syndrome support

DANBURY — A special hotline started by Danbury High School senior Olivia Alessandro will provide a new resource for siblings of children with Down syndrome.

The program is called “Siblings’ First Call” and launched late last month with the help of the Down Syndrome Association of Connecticut.

While there are resources for parents of children with Down syndrome, Alessandro, 18, noticed there are fewer resources for the other children in those families trying to adjust to their new sibling’s needs.

Alessandro, whose 10-year-old brother Luke was diagnosed with Down syndrome at birth, decided she could use her experience making that adjustment to help others do the same.

“Within the first day of launching the support program, I received an email from a local family with a new baby with Down syndrome who wanted support for the older siblings in the family,” she said. “This shows the need for the program was immediate. I am very excited that this project is beginning to make an influence on my statewide community.”

The hotline is modeled after the association’s “Parents’ First Call,” which Alessandro’s mother, Patricia, facilitates. Through both hotlines, parents and now siblings can leave messages or emails with the association and the Alessandros will either help those families themselves or connect them to a volunteer closer to wherever they live in the state.

So far, one New Fairfield family of six children has reached out because their newest sibling has been diagnosed with Down syndrome. Olivia Alessandro will meet with them in the next few weeks to help answer their questions.

But a slew of other emails have landed in the association’s inbox from siblings as young as 12 and as old as 18 who want to volunteer to mentor others, she added.

She pointed out that while parents are juggling the myriad health issues that often accompany a Down syndrome diagnosis, they may not have time to help their other children adjust, which is why it’s important to have a chance to talk with someone who can relate.

“I think it is important to share the experience of having a sibling with Down syndrome and show that their diagnosis will not define them,” Olivia said. “They, too, can excel in school, be social and important community members. These are the expectations that my family has for my brother. Hearing how families work with their children may lessen any fears and feelings of the unknown they may have for their new siblings.”

This fall, Alessandro plans to head to Fairfield University to study nursing, a decision also inspired by her brother, Luke.

The Siblings’ First Call hotline number is 888-486-8573 and general questions can be emailed to siblingsfirstcall@mydsact.org.