Child health care and "the new morbidity": toward a model for the linkage of private medical practice and the public schools.

A renewed, and somewhat overdue, emphasis on programs for children has become a widespread concern of the health and human services fields. This paper addresses the problems and potentials of achieving a greater degree of coordination of the child-oriented human services through an examination of the response and the interaction of the (largely private) medical care and the (largely public) educational systems with respect to the special situation of children with learning-related handicapping conditions. The perspectives and particular interests of each of these complex systems are described along with their special role in the detection, assessment, and intervention with regard to children with learning-related problems. A description is provided of the process through which children are placed in educational programs that give special recognition to their learning difficulties. Particular note is taken of those places where medical care providers can have an effective influence on the educational placement of the child. The paper concludes with four recommendations that should help to insure the interaction of child health and educational services for children with learning-related handicapping conditions.