Diagnostic assessment of developmental disability: the parents' view

A self-report questionnaire was used to survey parental recollections and opinions concerning: detection and diagnosis of their child's developmental disabilities; the accessibility, usefulness and the efficacy of generic and specialist services which were offered and utilized by the family during the child's first 5 years from birth; the necessity, utilization and adequacy of current generic and specialist services for the parents and their child. Ninety parents of children who were clients of two New South Wales developmental disability community services at the time of this study were contacted by mail and asked to complete the questionnaire. Eighty parents correctly completed the questionnaire. Parents of children using these two services were selected on the socioeconomic and resettlement differences between these regions (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1989); descriptive analysis using cross-tabulation tables indicated a significant group difference with regard to the fathers' occupational status and the families' private health-care insurance membership. Group variation was also found with the responses to the availability and adequacy of services. Otherwise parents' experiences in the recognition and diagnostic assessment of their children's developmental disabilities were homogeneous.