ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the relationship between the family system and the publicly supported service system as providers of care to a handicapped person. It analyzes the extent to which the service system facilitates or impedes the adaptive functioning of families with a handicapped member. It also considers structural variation and functional requirements of contemporary family life and how these features are relevant to the families of handicapped persons. Then it focuses on three specific stages in the life of a handicapped child: infancy up to age three, school age, and young adulthood. The family-service provider relationship can be characterized as a partnership in which providers are sensitive to the capabilities and needs of the family in the design of intervention strategies and to meeting the service needs of the family as well as the child. The school system is mandated to provide both educational and related services needed to ensure an appropriate educational experience for handicapped children.
