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And this brings me to the final challenge I want to point out to you, and as so often in the human services field it is a problem of communication. Let me bring it to you in the words of a Health Visitor:

The health visitor must be ready to spend time and imagination so the parents of the handicapped know what services are available, where they are, and how to obtain them. She must be able to refer children to the appropriate agencies and be aware not only of the statutory provisions, but of the help that voluntary societies can offer. The needs of handicapped children are met by workers from various disciplines. There is a great need for each of us to repose confidence in the professional skills of others and therefore it should be possible to exchange all available information about the families we are trying to help with colleagues in other fields. Too often a wrong concept of "confidentiality" prevents health visitors receiving information about treatment advised by experts and given to the families of handicapped children. Surely this is unacceptable if the health is to give the support the mother needs, and if she is to help the family to carry out the advised procedure correctly. (Byrne, 1971)

It seems to me this is a good point from which to start our discussion.