Discusses the value of touch as a counseling tool with handicapped students. Delineates the mechanical and neurological components of touch and identifies tactile stimuli that are processed and evaluated during a learning experience. Academic and affective factors are also reviewed. (JAC)

Isolates active ingredients of the coping-skills component: sensory discriminative (SD), motivational affective (MA), and cognitive evaluative (CE) skills. Checks on independent variable manipulation reveal that SD skills are learned and employed, MA skills are already known but refined, and CE skills are largely ignored. (Author)