ABSTRACT
In Living with Handicap Younghusband et al. (1970) defined handicap as ‘a disability which for a substantial period, or permanently, retards, distorts or otherwise adversely affects normal growth, development or adjustment to life’. This definition has become quite widely accepted since, as for example in the Court Report (DHSS 1976b). Mitchell (in Drillien and Drummond 1977:1) highlighted the significance of a child’s home background: ‘social deprivation and an inadequate home and parents tend to increase handicap whereas it is lessened by a warm supportive family. Thus a child’s strengths and weaknesses, the resources and deficiencies of his home background, and the impact of his surrounding environment must all be considered in determining the degree of his handicap.’ In this sense disability can then only be considered a handicap in relation to circumstances. The social worker’s contribution can be to minimize the negative and reinforce and enhance the positive effects of the individual circumstances of the child, thus minimizing the overall handicap.
