Services for Children with Down Syndrome

Abstract

Parents of 221 school-aged children with Down syndrome completed a questionnaire about their experiences with service-providers from the time of diagnosis of their child’s disability. These experiences were compared with those of 782 parents of children with moderate or severe intellectual disability, with disabilities other than Down syndrome. Down syndrome was the earliest diagnosed disability, the average age of suspicion being two weeks and of diagnosis four weeks. Two-thirds of the children with Down syndrome had at least one additional disability, some having up to four additional disabilities. Some differences were apparent between older and younger children in the sample. Parents of younger children with Down syndrome were less likely to report inaccurate predictions about their child’s health and development. Children with Down syndrome were significantly more likely than children with other disabilities to be receiving speech therapy and significantly less likely to be receiving occupational therapy or physiotherapy. Parents of younger children with Down syndrome were more likely than parents of older children with Down syndrome or of children with other disabilities to regard an integrated school placement as ideal for their child, and their children were more likely to be in integrated settings.