Provision of services for mentally handicapped children in the Witwatersrand area.

Childhood mental retardation is defined as significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning existing together with difficulty in adaptive behaviour, manifesting during the period from birth to 18 years. We addressed the issues of diagnosis, placement and management of the mentally handicapped child in the Witwatersrand area and surveyed facilities available for them. According to our calculations, facilities were adequate for 69.7% white, 26% Indian, 9.3% coloured and only 7.6% black children. Urgent attention must be given to providing more care for these children, especially those with profound mental retardation. A special class in a regular school is the most appropriate environment for the mildly to moderately retarded group.