National Down Syndrome Convention Recap with Mia

By Mia Siino

In July we (Mia and my mom Karen) went to the National Down Syndrome Congress Convention in Phoenix, Arizona. We met other friends from all over the world!

The NDSC Convention is a convention for Down syndrome, to meet other friends, and to interact with one another. We danced, learned things, and just had a great time. 

Day one of the conference was the kickoff. We did different activities getting to know people at your table- favorite drink, favorite TV show, favorite color. 

On day two I went to different sessions- Social Media Safety and How to Be a Leader. 

In the first session I learned about social media safety (Instagram, Facebook, FaceTime), safe people to interact with, and we did a safety dance. Then we did Just Dance to Taylor Swift; everyone loves Taylor Swift! 

In How to Be a Leader I spoke about how I co-lead Fantastic Friends and GiGiFIT, led as a team captain for Special Olympics Bocce, and was a team manager for my high school softball team. 

We also went to a college fair and visited the UC Davis booth to see our friend who works there. We visited another booth that was similar to the Sierra College LIFE program, it was cool to hear about. They do a lot with Special Olympics and lots of different sports!

We also went to GiGi’s Playhouse Phoenix for a reception after the conference. It was really cool, Karen almost cried. Their Playhouse is huge! They have a room for GiGiFIT, a room for GiGi’s University, and are going to open an ice cream shop next door! We met the site manager, she was very nice. I saw a lot of the same people from the GiGi’s National Conference. 

On day three we had to wake up early to get there! On Sunday morning we did a talent show, lots of people did great things like singing, dancing, drumming, gymnastics, sign language (that was really cool!). Some people did singing and dancing together. I did a group performance, singing and dancing to Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus. I got to speak beforehand and said “I dedicate this performance to my mom and everyone at this conference”! 

My favorite part about the conference was the dances! I really enjoyed dancing with my new friend Dashiell. 

I had a great time, hoping to go back to Dallas Texas for the next one!