ABSTRACT
Social medicine today is characterised by a growing concern with the definition and classification of illness-related impairments, disabilities and handicaps. For deriving profiles of the disabilities arid behavioural abnormalities of mentally retarded children, the HBS Schedule developed by Wing offers a number of advantages. The aim of the study was to identify patterns of disability and abnormal behaviour, which might prove to be linked to biological or social characteristics of the children, or to be useful in differentiating different types of need. A survey based on a defined census day was carried out to identify all mentally retarded children in the age range 7-16 years, according to administrative criteria. Its purpose is to provide information on the developmental level, functioning and behaviour of mentally retarded children. Three features of the typology described here are of direct interest in service planning and organization.
