Yvonne Olten-Dorgan, a Cork based educational psychologist, is undertaking a very interesting research project which will examine the self-esteem of children with Down syndrome who attend mainstream school versus those who attend special school. 

The topic of emotional and behavioural difficulties in children with Down syndrome has received a lot of attention in the last number of years. But most has focused on the prevalence and patterns of behaviour and not on the environmental contexts and influences. With the move to inclusive education for all children with learning disabilites in the last decade, research has looked at academic outcomes, language development, social skills etc, but not at how the experience is affecting the self-esteem of the child. Does it place increasing pressure on children with Down syndrome to perform? To be aware of their differences?

Yvonne hopes to examine these issues to help better inform psychologists, parents and teachers working with children with Down syndrome. She hopes it may also inform curriculum development and the development of intervention packages. CAN YOU HELP HER?

She is looking for 60- 80 families who have children between the ages of 11 to 19 attending either mainstream or special schools to get involved. This will require the family memeber with Down syndrome to complete a survey form and phone interviews.

Your help would be much appreciated and you can drop us an email if are interested in becoming involved or contact Yvonne Olten-Dorgan direct at yvonne_olten@yahoo.com.

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