IN SEPTEMBER 1962 a ward for emotionally disturbed blind children was opened in the Children's Unit of the Creedmoor State Hospital.
In the ensuing two-year period, 32 blind children were referred to us; 24 of these children were admitted to the hospital and the eight others were evaluated but not admitted. The ages of the patients were 51/2 to 141/2 years at the time of initial evaluation which included physical, neurological, psychiatric, psychological, ophthalmological, and electroencephalographic examinations. The parents of the patients were interviewed in order to determine the facts concerning the health of the mother, especially during pregnancy and the events occurring in the perinatal period.
The 24 children who were admitted to the hospital stayed for an average of a year. During this time many therapeutic methods were explored, including habit training on the ward, occupational, physical, and recreational therapy by specially trained workers, schooling in the