Assessing and diagnosing developmental disorders that are not evident at birth: parental evaluations of intake procedures.

Studies of parental satisfaction with the way in which diagnostic information is imparted have generally focused on conditions that are evident from birth. Diagnostic disclosure for disorders in which the onset is later, and less readily identifiable, has received less attention. The present study investigated parents' views of diagnostic procedures for children whose developmental delays only became apparent as they grew older. The degree of satisfaction was related to the type of diagnosis given but 2 weeks after the assessment 87% of parents described themselves as being very or fairly satisfied. However, levels of satisfaction were lower at a later follow-up than they had been initially. Moreover, several specific aspects of the assessment fell short of the ideal model and parents offered a number of practical and cost-effective suggestions as to how these could be remedied. These ranged from ways in which pre-assessment procedures could be made more useful, how diagnostic information should be presented and how the physical setting could be improved.