Children who have difficulty with handling a pen or pencil or who have problems with organising movements at a cerebral level are at a great disadvantage in school no matter what their intellectual and academic levels may be. Personal computers and electronic keyboards can revolutionise the lives of children with these types of difficulties enabling them to perform in the classroom with their peers.

However, since such equipment is costly, it is essential that an accurate assessment is made of the child's needs and abilities to ensure that appropriate equipment is chosen. It is equally...

The practising paediatrician struggles to combat the effects of acute illness and disease in babies and older children. The pattem of hospital admissions has changed dramatically since I first qualified over 25 years ago. Neonatology is a relatively new branch of paediatrics and achievements in neonatal intensive care have been exciting and little short of astonishing. However, like the poor, children with chronic disabilities are always with us. Sadly, modern mainstream medical progressive thinkers regard as much less prestigious the work done in the field of 'handicap'. Thanks to...

In the early years of this century a syndrome manifested by perceptuo-motor difficulties was described. During succeeding years further references were made to such a syndrome. In the first half of this century, however, children who suffered from such difficulties received little acknowledgement of their problems; few were neurologically assessed or offered remedia- tion. Many school teachers were unaware of the existence of such problems and so were unable to make allowances for the gross and fine motor difficulties and perceptual problems encountered by some pupils during the course of the...