Health knowledge training is one step in promoting health self-advocacy and better health in persons with intellectual disabilities.

Parental IQ scores are routinely relied upon to judge parenting capacity in custody cases where parents have intellectual and developmental disabilities. The present authors recommend more comprehensive assessments examining a broader range of contextual variable that may impact on parenting abilities.

Children of parents with learning difficulties (LD) are at risk for a variety of developmental problems including behavioral and psychiatric disorders. However, there are no empirically supported programs to prevent or reduce these problems in such children. The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of a game-based, role-playing parenting intervention designed to teach parents with LD positive child behavior management strategies. A multiple baseline across skills design was used with 2 parents, who were taught 3 skills, in the context of a game: (a) clear instructions, (b) approval of child cooperation, and (c) correction of noncooperation. Training scores increased on each skill after training, maintained at 1-month follow-up, and generalized to untrained role-played scenarios. In situ parenting skill improvements were variable, although child cooperation increased. Results of pre-post social validity measures were also generally positive. The findings of this preliminary study suggest that a game-based parent education program for parents with LD may improve positive parent-child interactions.

No abstract

Children with Down syndrome require services from different sectors over time to optimize health and development, however, there is little information on longitudinal, cross-sector service use. Parents of children with Down syndrome attending a Canadian children's hospital participated in semistructured interviews covering life-time multiple sector service use. Five key service patterns were identified: (1) primary care physicians playing a circumscribed role; (2) a marked shift in public habilitative service receipt from development agencies in the preschool years to exclusive school delivery after school entry; (3) families obtaining private services to address gaps from public sector services; (4) a prominent role for parents to identify additional services; and (5) service variability as a function of timing and severity of medical comorbidity.