The role of the doctor in the evaluation of children with learning problems in a developing country

Twenty children in a Sub A class in Bophuthatswana were examined by a paediatrician. The examination was carried out during the second half of the school year and the results compared with the school results attained by the children at the end of the year. Although this was only a pilot study with a small group of children, positive results were obtained as far as the general neurological examination and a few other tests, such as asking the child to write his name and asking him to name a number written with the examiner's finger on his palm, and the general impression gained by the paediatrician who examined the children, were concerned.