ABSTRACT.Pooled findings from 21 early intervention demonstration studies for Down's syndrome infants and children yield consistency of short‐term benefits in the growth of liner motor skills, simple social repertoire and DQ/IQ scores, hut conflicting evidence in support or not of benefits in the gross motor, linguistic and cognitive/ academic domains. Support for the tenacity of gains, on follow‐up to the early years of primary schooling, is disappointing. It is recommended that: (1) intervention programmers view the key working assumptions and ideological positions governing present practices more critically; (2) intervention curricula reflect the unique biological and behavioural properties of the syndrome, taking into account individual differences which are independent of etiological label; and (3) care delivery systems be based more fully on multidisciplinary collaboration, especially between the health sciences and education fie