The suggestion is made, in this paper, that too many children have been placed in Special Schools for the physically handicapped. One of the reasons for this has been the tendency for the community to use the terms impairment, disability and handicap, interchangeably. An attempt is made to clarify the difference between these terms. It is claimed that there should be “compelling educational reasons” before a child is placed anywhere other than a regular class in a regular school. Guidelines for determining alternative placements are suggested. The paper claims that, in Australia, there does not exist an appropriate continuum of educationl service provision for children with physical disabilities. It is contended that too little use is made of the special class within a regular school.

Historically it has been the practice to educate a child with a significant physical disability in a special school. Of course there have been some exceptions to this practice, but it has never-the-less been true that a child with, say, athetoid cerebral palsy, would probably have been placed in a “special school for the physically handicapped”. Fortunately that situation is changing and it is appropriate that we look now at both why the special placement model was so popular, and also what factors should be considered in determining an educational placement today.