How satisfied are parents of pre-school children who have special needs with the services they have received? A consumer survey.

The parents of 41 pre-school children with special needs volunteered to participate in a consumer survey to ascertain their satisfaction with the services they had received and how these could be improved. The survey produced an overall high level of satisfaction, although parents felt they had not received as much information as they wanted on their child's condition (29%), available help for their family (44%), financial benefits (61%), or information about their child's future (61%). Families also felt that they had not received enough family support (43%), and that professionals regularly did not understand their concerns (32%). Ways in which these issues could be addressed are discussed, along with more general issues of such consumer satisfaction surveys.