ABSTRACT
The domestic routine is, for the purposes of analysis, divided into a number of physical child care, child minding and housework tasks. The extent of the Childs influence on the domestic routine varied greatly from one family to another. Catering for the handicapped Childs basic physical needs sometimes presented enormous problems. This child was in the home group but such accounts of the problems of physical care were more characteristic of mothers whose child was awaiting admission. There was an obvious hierarchy in which tasks such as washing clothes and cooking were clearly designated as maternal role obligations, whereas washing dishes and shopping were much less clearly defined obligations and were therefore activities in which other family members were much more likely to play a part. The mothers descriptions of the problems they experienced in relation to child care have already touched on the impact that the handicapped child often had on housework.
