ABSTRACT

This study was undertaken in order to gain an insight on the knowledge and attitudes of the AUN community towards Down syndrome, further research was conducted with number [3] families in both Adamawa and Rivers States in order to assess how parents cope with the care of a child with Down syndrome. The research also tried to ascertain the knowledge of these parents about the disorder before and after the birth of their children. If they had more than one child with Down syndrome was also a factor studied in the research. All three families involved in the study had male children with Down syndrome. Their ages ranged from 6 to 10. Questionnaires with close ended and open ended questions were used for the study carried out in the AUN community. All parents involved were unaware of their child’s disorder before birth and the mothers were in denial for a while. The research investigates how these parents cope and how the children are being cared for.