THIS 1961-62 STUDY OF HANDICAPPED CHILDREN WAS DESIGNED TO DETERMINE IN ALAMANCE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, THE PREVALENCE OF HANDICAP, EXTENT OF HANDICAP, EFFECTIVENESS OF REPORTING METHODS, AVAILABILITY OF SERVICES, AND NEEDED SERVICES. THE REGISTERS OF STATE, LOCAL, AND PRIVATE AGENCIES WERE EXAMINED AND FOUND TO CONTAIN 5,953 ENTRIES ON 4,083 CHILDREN. A HOUSEHOLD SURVEY GATHERED INFORMATION ON 1,684 CHILDREN, ROUGHLY A 5 PERCENT SAMPLE OF THE POPULATION UNDER 20 YEARS. A DIAGNOSTIC CLINIC EXAMINED 456 CHILDREN. PART ONE OF THIS REPORT PROVIDES HISTORICAL BACKGROUND FOR THE STUDY, DEFINES TERMS AND CATEGORIES CONSIDERED, AND DESCRIBES THE GEOGRAPHIC SETTING. THE STUDY PROCEDURES AND THE BASIC STATISTICAL DATA ARE REPORTED. AGENCY REPORTS PROVIDED THE MOST CONSERVATIVE PREVALENCE ESTIMATES OF THE METHODS EMPLOYED FOR GATHERING DATA. SEVENTY-NINE INTERVIEWERS (INCLUDING 58 VOLUNTEER WORKERS) COMPLETED INTERVIEWS IN 1,032 HOUSEHOLDS. CLINICAL EXAMINATIONS WERE CARRIED OUT FOR 456 NORMAL AND HANDICAPPED CHILDREN. PART TWO PROVIDES AN EVALUATION OF SCHOOL TEACHERS AND SCHOOL RECORDS AS SOURCES OF INFORMATION, A COMPARISON OF RECORDS OF HEALTH INFORMATION BETWEEN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE AGENCIES, AND AN EXAMINATION OF REFERRAL PATTERNS BETWEEN AGENCIES. PART THREE EXAMINES INTERVIEWER RESPONSE BIAS AND COMPARES THE RESPONSES OBTAINED BY VOLUNTEERS IN ALAMANCE COUNTY AND LATER IN HALIFAX COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA. IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT VOLUNTEERS COULD BE USED QUITE EFFECTIVELY IN SUCH STUDIES. PART FOUR PRESENTS STATISTICAL FINDINGS FROM THE CLINICAL EXAMINATIONS AND CONSIDERS A NUMBER OF SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS PRESUMABLY RELATED TO HEALTH CARE SERVICES. PART FIVE PRESENTS A SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY. PREVALENCE RATES WERE HIGHER THAN EXPECTED. A MAJORITY OF THE CONDITIONS CAUSED LITTLE OR NO REAL DISABILITY. ESTIMATES OF MODERATE TO SEVERE DISABILITY WERE COMPARABLE TO SIMILAR STUDIES AND JUDGED SUFFICIENT FOR PLANNING EXPANDED SERVICES. MULTIPLE DISABILITIES PRESENT PROBLEMS FOR CASE FINDING. THE APPENDIX INCLUDES MAJOR FORMS USED. THIS DOCUMENT WAS PUBLISHED BY THE NEMOURS FOUNDATION, WILMINGTON, DELAWARE. (DF)