This book attempts to present an overview of developmental disabilities. The presentation of a "very general, non-technical guide to introduce parents to all aspects of developmental handicaps" is an ambitious undertaking. In a brief 89 pages, it presents information concerning incidences, etiology, family dynamics, habilitation, and community resources. So formidable is such a task that the likelihood of success is remote.
In an effort to present this amount of information in a general, non-technical fashion, the book presents complex, theoretical, controversial topics in a simplified fashion. The oversimplification of such topics as minimal brain dysfunction, mental illness, mental retardation, and epilepsy could easily give a parent the misconception that we have as many answers as we have problems.
Such statements as "we do know, however, that when babies and small children have seizures they are either caused by a high fever or because of brain damage" are incomplete. The