SUMMARY The techniques presented are designed for the developmental assessment of blind or partially sighted babies and young children who may have additional handicaps. The aim is to explore the areas of development which are particularly important for such children, and to use this as a basis for planning a programme of management and early education which can be carried out by the parents in the course of daily living at home. The areas selected are (a) in the motor scale: manipulation, locomotion, and reflex function; (b) in the mental scale: social adaptation, sensorimotor understanding (tactile), exploration of the environment, response to sound and verbal comprehension, vocalization and expressive language. A developmental progression appropriate for visually handicapped children is postulated for each of these areas.

and significantly more had developmental problems. Thus one possible way of reaching and helping such children is through home developmental examinations.

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We describe a hospital outbreak of cholera in a children's paediatric unit. The outbreak began explosively and continued for four months with spread from person to person within the diarrhoea isolation unit. Overcrowded and unhygienic conditions in this unit facilitated transmission. The organism was multiply drug-resistant, the same strain having been isolated in another outbreak in the paediatric unit seven months previously. A high case fatality rate of 30.0% was recorded in infants infected in hospital.

SUMMARY The role of the paediatrician in the assessment of the visually handicapped child is discussed, and the scope of the assessment described.