Observation of emotional functioning in young handicapped children

Young children with handicaps are at greater risk of emotional problems than young children without handicaps because of several factors, two of which include (a) altered parent-child interaction patterns from infancy onward and (b) societal attitudes regarding handicaps. Early interventionists are in a unique position to observe signs of emotional problems and assist families in obtaining psychological help. Greenspan's framework for systematically observing aspects of emotional development is described, and ways of drawing conclusions from observations are presented in order to assist interventionists from many disciplines to observe emotional development with greater clarity.