ABSTRACT
When a local authority adopts a particular educational policy for a category of handicapped children, the wishes of parents and the needs of individual children may be ignored. In many areas, all Down’s Syndrome children are sent to ESN(S) schools regardless of their level of ability. For the parents of the more able children, this often means sending their child to a school which they feel offers few opportunities for extending their abilities, and for many it means learning undesirable social habits and behaviour. The pressure put on parents to send their child to an ESN(S) school, and the lack of any real alternative, means that parents must be well-organised and very determined if they are to secure the kind of education that they would like for their children.
