The adjustment to school of five Down's syndrome children from the I.H.C. early intervention programme

Abstract

The present study investigated the adjustment to school of five Down's Syndrome children - four of whom had participated in the I.H.C Early Intervention Programme since birth. Direct observation was used to record the Down's Syndrome child's interactions with peers and teachers, disruptive incidents, on and off-task behaviours, compliance with instructions in the classroom and amount of social play in the playground. The Down's Syndrome children's progress was assessed using 40 developmental tasks selected from the Down's Syndrome Performance Inventory(D.S.P.I). In addition, data on the teachers' attitudes towards integration and their perceptions of the Down's Syndrome child's behaviour was collected through a written questionnaire. The observat­ions indicated that the Down's Syndrome children were performing better in the classroom than the teachers' reports suggested.The four children who took part in the Early Intervention Programme until school entry continued to acquire new skills at the same rate as during their partici­pation in the Programme. They were also engaged in social play for similar amounts of time as the Contrast children. The fifth subject made the least amount of progress and engaged in social play for lower proportions of time as the Contrast children in her class. The data raises a number of implications for the integration of Down's Syndrome children. Teacher attitudes should be investigated before placement in a regular class is made. Teachers could also benefit from developing appropriate management strategies, such as giving specific instructions, rewarding on-task behaviour and teaching the Down's Syndrome child to work in a group situation. Feedback from the present study concerning the discrepancies between teacher beliefs about what Down's Syndrome children do and how they interact with the child could prove beneficial in altering their beliefs and management of the child.