Early Support Developmental Journal for children with Down syndrome published

The UK government Early Support programme has published the Developmental Journal for Babies and Children with Down Syndrome. This is a new publication from the UK government's Early Support programme. It was written by a team of experts led by Down Syndrome Education International. The Journal has been designed specifically for families with a young child with Down syndrome and the professionals who work with them. It aims to help parents and carers track and understand their child's development through their early years.

Down Syndrome Education Internationalworked closely with the Early Support team, the Down's Syndrome Association, the Down's Heart Group, a panel of expert advisors and many families to develop and pilot these materials. We would like to publicly thank all those involved for their contributions to this valuable resource.

It should be noted that this is a journal and, as explained on the Early Support Web site, it is "a tool to help you track and understand development in your child and to share that information with other people." It does not provide extensive advice and information, although it is accompanied by an "Information for parents" book that provides good summary information about a range of issues relevant to people with Down syndrome and a comprehensive list of further sources of information and advice.

The charity is now working with the Early Support team to develop a training programme to ensure that the professionals working with families around the UK are properly informed about the journal and its uses. The charity is also discussing its potential use with colleagues for collecting developmental data to provide norms, to look at longitudinal developmental trajectories and to answer some specific research questions.

It will take a while for the journal to be used to its full potential, but the charity expects it to act as a positive force for improvement of the services offered to infants with Down syndrome and their families.

The charity would, of course, be delighted to receive feedback on parents and professionals experiences with the Journal.