A sample of 204 handicapped children below 12 years of age consisting of 121(59.3%) males and 83 (40.7%) females who were classified into various types of mental and physical handicaps, were surveyed in April and May 1996. The majority of those with mental handicaps were Down Syndrome while those with cerebral palsy were the mostfrequent cause of physical handicaps. A structured questionnaire was used for interviewing the children parents to evaluate their attitude towards their handicapped children. The majority of the parents expressed their opinions that having handicapped children was not a burden to them although these children had to be given more attention. However, a significant minority felt that the child would be afinancial burden to the family and that he/she would restrict the social life of the family. The majority of the children were sent to school, as parents felt it was their duty to do so. For those children not attending school, the majority of parents felt that the children would not benefit by going. The others could not do so because offinancial constraints or because of the distance between home and school. For these children, provid-ing hostel facilities in a boarding school could be the answer. This study shows that parental love and support plays a major role in ensuring optimal growth and development of a handicapped child