Early intervention for children with Down syndrome in southern Italy - The role of parent-implemented developmental training

The aim of this study was to assess whether parent-implemented developmental training-by means of the Carolina Curriculum for Infants and Toddlers with Special Needs (CCITSN)-could be of greater benefit to young children with Down syndrome (DS) than the standard therapist-implemented treatment provided by the National Health Service of the southern Italian region of Campania (NHST). A total of 47 children with DS were randomly assigned either to the experimental (CCITSN) or to the comparison (NHST) group. Children from both groups were tested periodically with the Brunet-Lezine Psychomotor Development Scale. After completion of the 12-month followup, children in the CCITSN group showed developmental gains over time while children in the comparison group showed a slight but not statistically significant improvement. Moreover, mean developmental quotient scores of the CCITSN group, over the entire study period, were significantly higher than those of the comparison group. A commitment to using parents as interventionists is not a common practice in Italy and many other countries, but may be the most effective and cost-efficient way of providing services to young children with DS and other developmental disabilities.