Down Syndrome Parents’ Support Group Siriraj Hospital was established on February 14, 1993. It
consists of a group of pediatricians, nurses, parents of children with Down Syndrome (DS) who received care
at the Genetics Clinic, Division of Medical Genetics, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj
Hospital. The objective is to educate parents with DS children whose diagnosis of DS given at birth causing
grief and disappointment which led to abandonment of these children at Siriraj Hospital almost every other
month (fifteen years ago) due to lack of education on the part of the medical professionals. Down Syndrome
Parents’ Support Group Siriraj Hospital received financial support from Terres des hommes of the Netherlands
in the first 6 years. Later it received partial financial support from a government agency; however, the majority
of the funding came from private donations. Throughout the years, the group had several successful activities:
Siriraj Down Syndrome Annual Meeting since 1991 (total of 17 years) and Down Syndrome Provincial
Lecture tour, so called “Down Sunjorn” since 1997. The latest in 2008 (the tenth) which was organized with
major provincial hospitals of the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH). Moreover, the group took part in (1)
working with the Ministry of Education for Thailand Educational Act B.E. 1999 which promotes integration
of DS children into normal schools all over the country, (2) working with the Department of Maternal & Child
Health, MOPH started the Child Development Center in the provincial community hospitals where the service
was lacking; (3) working with Ministry of Social Development’ and Human Security to initiate an educational
program for the DS families in the rural areas (from 2001 - 2006) to help educate families with DS children and
raise awareness for their educational & legal rights. In the past 15 years, there was no more abandonment of
DS children at Siriraj Hospital and others; these children received better care and improved quality of life.

Keywords: Down syndrome, Parents, Self-help group