Coffee Club: Down Syndrome

Description

The OT Link is excited to welcome Dr. Dorothy Russell back to present an update on this topic again in 2025.

Dr Dorothy Russell is the Director and senior Occupational Therapist (OT) at the Bloemfontein Child Information Centre (BCIC), Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Health Science, University of the Free State (UFS). She has held this position since September 1985 (nearly 40 years).
Dorothy actively started participating in community projects in 1991 by applying her skills and knowledge as an OT. She assisted with the early intervention of underprivileged children in the community as part of the Manguang University Community Partnership Programme (MUCPP) until 2000.

She was confronted with her first patient with Down Syndrome (DS) at the BCIC as a young OT in 1989. At the time OTs did not have the opportunity to work with babies with DS, as they were only referred at a later age. As early intervention is crucial for development, she made it her mission to change the perception of doctors and caretakers to refer babies to OTs as early as 14 days after birth.
Since 2005 she was actively involved in promoting and advocating DS in the community on various platforms: awareness days, radio interviews, newspapers and magazine articles. She founded a DS parent support group in which she empowers parents and also provides occupational therapy intervention for the children.

The support group led to the establishment of the DS Free State (DSFS) branch. Dorothy managed to successfully register the DSFS branch as a public benefit organisation (PBO). The support group has been known as the DSFS branch since 2006. She was part of the process to develop a website for the branch in order to create awareness of DS and the projects of the DSFS branch: www.dsfs.org.za. Under her leadership, the DSFS branch has various projects and activities. She is also an advocate for the inclusion of children with DS communities. Her further expectation is that children with DS will be able to learn how to read and write.
She combined her passion for children with DS and early intervention and developed a specific programme, Developmental Resource Stimulation Programme (DRSP). She completed her PhD in 2013 at the UFS by applying and testing the effect of the DRSP. The DRSP is a holistic approach to intervention. It is a tool to be used by OTs working with children with DS and developmental delays. She has trained OTs across South Africa to apply the DRSP in intervention sessions.

Dorothy has a true passion for occupational therapy. She is selfless and focuses on the needs of others. She has the ability to always notice the positive possibilities in challenging circumstances. Her entire being strives to equip and empower children, especially children with disabilities, and their parents.