A survey of needs of families with disabled children

A cluster analysis of responses of 78 carers of people with learning disabilities to service needs scales identified high- and low-need groups, each with distinct profiles. In comparison with the low-need group, the high-need group reported greater needs for familial social support; help explaining their child’s handicap to others; assistance with leisure activities for their handicapped member; extrafamilial social support; financial assistance; information on services for families with a handicapped member; information on child development and management; and respite care and counselling. Those in the high-need group perceived the handicapped person for whom they cared to have more behavioural problems and safety skills deficits. The carers in the high-need group also had lower levels of perceived social support and higher levels of family stress. Although high- and low-need groups displayed these disparate psychosocial profiles, they were demographically similar and did not differ in terms of the level of disability of the handicapped people for whom they cared.