Asian families with a pre‐school handicapped child – a study

Summary This study examines the feasibility of introducing a scheme such as Portage to Asian families with a pre-school mentally handicapped child. It also looks at what the families said they wanted in the way of resources to help them bring up their child. 11 families in an inner city area were interviewed in their own language using a structured interview schedule. The findings support the applicability of an early intervention approach and highlight significant areas of need. It is suggested that the use of a mother-tongue named person would make a substantial contribution to how limited English speaking families understand and make use of services for their mentally handicapped children.