Parents' experiences and views on being told they have a handicapped child: a survey.

This study examines the experiences of 152 parents of young children with special needs of when and how they were first told of their child's condition and their preferences for being told alone or together with their spouse. The point at which parents were first told differed according to the nature of the child's handicap. The medical profession and allied health services bear the brunt of informing parents. There were no significant variations in parents' experiences of who was told or their preferences for being told together or alone when the five independent variables of child's handicap, residence, child's age family size, and socio-economic status were taken into account.