Parental reactions to early intervention with their Down's syndrome infants

Results of early intervention programmes with Down's syndrome infants are well documented in terms of the effects on the infants' development, but less attention has been given to the reactions of parents who are required to carry out the programmes. A small scale interview study of three groups of parents receiving different 'intensities' of intervention is described. Overall, parents' view of the intervention programmes are positive but the difficulties experienced by some parents point to the need for intervenors to be sensitive to family situations and feelings and for programmes to be flexible enough to meet these needs.