In Lakewood, an achievement center provides lifelong support to individuals with Down syndrome
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Theresa Ho, Jeremy Moore
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GiGi’s Playhouse Denver is a space for educational, therapeutic, and career building programs for individuals with Down syndrome, their families, and the community.
LAKEWOOD, Colo. — “I think when a person with a disability is treated like they can’t do something — if that’s a societal perception or someone else’s perception — it makes it hard for a person to live up to their full potential,” said Briana Rigau.
Rigau is an occupational therapist and the Destination Discovery program lead at GiGi’s Playhouse Denver, an achievement center that provides free educational, therapeutic-based and career development programs for individuals with Down syndrome, their families and the community.
GiGi's Playhouse Denver is a place to grow and serve for the Down syndrome community.
During the day’s Destination Discovery lesson, which is open to all ages but geared towards children aged 5-12, Rigau read "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" to the group of kids. Afterwards, the children made pretend cookies with shaving cream and paper. They took turns going through a maze made on the floor with tape.
The activities are designed to support the development of motor skills, social skills and language in a fun and casual setting.
According to Rigau, the activities also help build confidence in kids as volunteers leading the program can adjust the activity’s difficulty based on a child’s skill level.
“When we're met with that just right challenge where we're able to be successful, but it's not too easy, our theories and models of occupation show that we want to keep participating,” Rigau said.
Gigi’s Playhouse Denver, the 55th Playhouse in an international network of Playhouses, opened last year in October 2021.
Beth Jeub is the founding board president of GiGi’s Playhouse Denver. She has two children. Her son is a child with Down syndrome.
Beth Jeub, the founding board president of GiGi’s Playhouse Denver, told Rocky Mountain PBS that GiGi’s Playhouse began when Nancy Gianni learned that her daughter, Gigi, was diagnosed with Down syndrome.
“Gigi received a pretty negative typical birth diagnosis,” Jeub said. “People told Nancy all the things that Gigi would never do. She would never ride a bike, graduate, hold a job, you know, the list goes on. And Nancy said, ‘No, I'm going to throw that all out.’”
Originally, Jeub explained, Nancy only intended to make one achievement center. But then people began coming from other parts of the country. They all wanted a Gigi’s Playhouse — for their community, for their child, for their family and for their siblings.
While GiGi’s Playhouse is a space for individuals with Down syndrome to get support throughout their lives, Jeub emphasized that it is also a space for family members, neighbors and community members.
“We always say that Gigi's serves the community, but we also give the community a place to serve,” Jeub said.
Kristen Espino, a parent volunteer with GiGi’s Playhouse Denver, and her daughter Lucia have been going to GiGi’s Playhouse Denver since moving to Colorado in November of 2021. In the early summer, Espino also became a volunteer and started leading the Destination Discovery program’s second offering.
Kristen and Lucia ‘Lulu’ Espino listen to a reading of ‘If You Give a Mouse a Cookie’.
According to Espino, activities like the ones kids get to do in the Destination Discovery Program help her daughter interact with kids who have the same experiences and struggles she does.
“For her to be in an environment where she sees some of her other friends also struggling to use scissors, maybe gives her an opportunity to see, ‘I'm not the only one and we can all try this together and it's okay if I'm not the best at using scissors,’” Espino said.
She said GiGi’s Playhouse supports her as much as it supports her daughter.
“I feel like I have friends and people who understand what we're going through and people that I can ask questions of,” Kristen said.
Espino especially loves that her daughter can come and socialize with other kids with Down syndrome at the achievement center.
“She loves to interact with friends, and she also just loves to be silly and spunky,” Espino said. “And she's a very curious little person, so she's always having fun."
Theresa Ho is the RMPBS Kids digital content producer. You can reach her at theresaho@rmpbs.org.
Jeremy Moore is a senior multimedia journalist with Rocky Mountain PBS. You can email him at jeremymoore@rmpbs.org.
