Ms Lucy Moran:

The first part of the question concerned how much support parents get when they are first told their baby has Down's syndrome. Joey is 14, so it has been 14 years since we received that news. Back then, we were very well supported by a special care nurse who was our public nurse, and she advised us where to go to apply for this, that and the other, so we were well looked after in that regard. We also spent the first 17 weeks in hospital, so Down's syndrome kind of faded into the background and it was more about getting the child to have a life rather than handling his disability, which came later on.

Schoolwise, we had an intervention from the SENO early on when we were looking for a place for Joey. His special school takes both primary and secondary, so he has just moved over to the secondary side of the school and is now very happy in first year.