How They Grow Up: 41 Physically Handicapped Children and Their Families
KLAUS K. MINDE M.D.1,
J. D. HACKETT M.D.2,
D. KILLOU 3, , and
S. SILVER M.SC.4
1 Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal and Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychiatry, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7072, Kampala, Uganda
2 Consultant, Family and Child Service, Greater Victoria, B.C., Canada
3 Social worker, MacKay Centre for Deaf and Crippled Children, Montreal, P.Q., Canada
4 Psychologist, MacKay Centre for Deaf and Crippled Children, Montreal, P.Q., Canada
The authors followed 41 physically handicapped children through their first few years in school, examining the developmental process in the life of such children. They found that most of the children underwent two well-defined crises related to specific developmental hurdles between the ages of five and nine. Many of their parents could not initially deal realistically with the problem of the child's future, but with help they were able to do so later. The authors discuss their findings in the light of various developmental theories.
