[School attendance of children with trisomy 21. A 4-year experiment]

Four years ago a class was started with 8 children from 7 to 11 years of age with Down's syndrome. The classroom is in a state school. The children lived at home. They were with the other children of the school for several classes and for lunch. Like other children they learned reading, writing and arithmetic. Psychomotricity was emphasized. The children's I.Q. and behavior were studied before entering the class. After 24 to 30 months every child was able to read and write. Their I.Q.'s were retested after 4 years and the results were far better than previously. The children gained confidence and began to cope very well at school and outside school.