ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the learning problems of handicapped children, showing how these can be recognized and how one can plan to overcome them. It discusses the theoretical aspects of teaching plans and shows how they can be applied in practice. There are many kinds of situation in which learning takes place, but the actual number of different learning problems is relatively small. The form that the problems take becomes more complex with development and increasing experience, but the basic patterns remain. An over excitable baby may develop into a too distractable child; with both, too many responses are made to too many stimuli, and neither responses nor stimuli are selected and therefore do not lead to purposive, useful acts. All forms of learning involve problems: if there were no problems to overcome, there would be no need for teaching.
