Parents' evaluations of pre‐school services for children with Down syndrome in two Scottish regions

Parental evaluations of current pre-school provision for children with Down's syndrome were surveyed in two Scottish regions. Two methods were used: postal questionnaires and telephone interviews. Services covered were those provided by general practitioners, hospital specialists, health visitors, speech therapists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, educational psychologists, home teachers, social workers and voluntary organizations. Regional differences were found in provision and in parental satisfaction with currently available services, with some of these differences being dependent on child age. Overall, parents felt they were being given insufficient professional support, with contradictory advice not uncommon. Findings indicate that if limited resources are to be used to the maximum benefit of family and child, both subjective and objective measures of the relative values of different kinds of support at different ages are urgently needed.