The present study compared the rates of development of a group of 35 pre-school children in a home-training scheme. The children entered the service at different ages and suffered from different disabilities. The families received weekly visiting from a home advisor, who was specially trained to develop skills in the parents to help their children. Those who developed most rapidly were the group of environmentally deprived children. The non-specific developmentally delayed and Down's syndrome children progressed well during the study period. The children who suffered from cerebral palsy and those with visual handicaps developed at a very slow rate, despite the training that they were receiving. This finding may reflect the severity of their handicaps but also it suggests that the needs of these particular groups should be further examined. The age of entry to the scheme did not seem to be an important variable. The individual variability within each specified group was wide.
This paper describes the development of a home advisory service for families of children with developmental difficulties. It demonstrates the transition from a research phase to routine service provision, and indicates that the expansion in numbers of families receiving the service has been achieved whilst maintaining or improving the actual quality of the service. Information is provided on the placement of children who have left the service, and on the plans for future research within the service.
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