The behaviour of children with Down syndrome in normal playgroups

Public policy now provides that mentally handicapped children should as far as possible be integrated into normal schools and playgroups. Down syndrome children are among the most hopeful candidates for such integration and the the paper reports observations of several such children on their first day in a normal playgroup or after regular attendance at a playgroup over a period. The observations were by opposed video cameras fitted with telescopic lenses and placed at opposite ends of the room, far enough away to be ignored by te children. It appears that the normal children make heroic but unsuccessful attempts to establish contact with the DS child but eventually give up, with the result that the DS child becomes an isolate in the group--interacting with no one except the adult helpers. (The DS children had been well prepared and were capable of all the activities engaged in by the normal children.) It is suggested that their failure may be interpreted by the other children as gaze aversion--evidence of a desire to avoid interaction.