Down's syndrome and the family: follow-up of children first seen in infancy.

Twenty-three survivors of a prospective study of infants with Down's syndrome were followed up at eight or nine years of age. All but three lived at home, and those three came home for weekends or school holidays. IQs varied from less than 20 to 80 (mean 48). IQ and adaptive behaviour scores were related to birthweight and muscle tone in infancy. Difficult behaviour was common, but differed from that of normal children. More of the parents had minor degrees of psychiatric disability than parents in the control families. Marital problems arising in the earlier years of the child's life persisted, but without further deterioration. The findings indicate that the priorities for these families are to help the parents deal with emotional repercussions, to teach communication skills to the child, and to diagnose and treat difficult behaviour.