The Kiwanis Down Syndrome Foundation (KDSF) focus on the education of children with Down Syndrome from 2 months - 6 years of age.
Down syndrome is a genetic condition that happens when a child is born with an extra chromosome. The extra chromosome affects the way the child's brain and body develop, leading to developmental delays, intellectual disability and an increased risk for certain medical issues. Early intervention Programme which is a systematic programme of therapy, exercises and activities designed to address developmental delays is highly recommended for children with Down Syndrome.
There are five (5) KDSF Centres in Malaysia. All centres provide the Early Intervention Programme (EIP), a special educational curriculum which emphasizes the following areas: gross motor skills, fine motor skills, speech & language development, social development, perceptual-cognitive skills, pre-academic skills and independence skills.
The Centres are run like kindergartens with the usual kindergarten activities such as biennial Sports/Concerts,annual Graduation, social and educational visits. Physiotherapy & Occupational therapy services are alsoprovided as part of its educational services.
KDSF accepts children with Down Syndrome regardless of race, religion and economic background. Our mainconcern is providing children with Down Syndrome the critical early years foundation and preparing our studentsto be ready to attend the special classes in the Malaysian Government schools. Our EIP is classified into three (3) main categories to cater for each individual child’s developmental needs and strengths. They are: