The childcare charity carried out a survey of more than 100 families ofdisabled children as part of its Listening to Families project.
They found parents wanted to have all the children in their family inthe same setting or close by, but were frustrated by the shortage ofchildcare settings that would take both disabled and non-disabledchildren.
One parent said, 'I wanted my daughter to go to the nursery next to myson's school, but I was told no. So where do I send her then - toanother school half way across the borough?'
Parents reported a lack of specialised childcare, tailored to anindividual family's needs, to be a major issue.
Cost was also a barrier, with 14 per cent saying it was their mainreason for not using paid childcare.
Some parents said they had been given lists of childminders to contact,but when they did so were told they were unable to care for a disabledchild.
However, the National Childminding Association disputed the suggestionthat childminders were reluctant to care for disabled children.
It said 29 per cent of childminders who took part in NCMA's latestmembership survey had undertaken special educational needs training andjust under 14 per cent of childminders currently cared for a disabledchild.
The report is available at www.daycaretrust.org.uk.