Fragile-X syndrome, Down's syndrome and autism: awareness and knowledge amongst special educators

Fragile-X syndrome is the commonest cause of inherited intellectual disabil ity. There is good evidence for a behavioural phenotype. This has implicati ons for school staff using standard educational techniques. Similarly, auti sm is known to create particular educational requirements. The present stud y examined the awareness and knowledge of fragile-X syndrome, Down's syndro me and autism amongst staff in special and mainstream education. One hundre d and two special school staff and 40 mainstream school staff completed que stionnaires. Most staff offered a variety of features 'typical' of Down's s yndrome and autism. In contrast, staff knew less about fragile-X syndrome. Specific knowledge about the learning styles of these children was very poo r, but was associated with having aught an affected child. Mainstream and s pecial school staff offered similar levels of knowledge for all three condi tions. Staff did not demonstrate a sufficiently specialized knowledge of fr agile-X syndrome to ensure that the special educational needs of these chil dren were being met fully.