This symposium focused on the special needs of visually handicapped infants and young children. Texts of 48 papers are presented, including keynote addresses by W. Aubrey Webson ("The First Steps") and Heather Hewitt ("First Steps--Parenting, Prevention and Programming"). Regional reports are provided for Japan, Bangladesh, the Middle East, the United States and Canada, Oceania, and Latin America. Other selected papers include: "Identifying Children with Visual Impairments--Parents, Nurses, Teachers May Contribute to the Assessment of Visual Functions" (Eva Lindstedt); "Problems of Using Assessment Instruments with Deaf-Blind Handicapped Infants and Young Children" (Frieda Spivack); "The Development of Reaching in Blind Children" (Ann Bigelow); "Early Interaction between Infants Born Blind and Their Parents" (Anette Ingsholt); "Visual Perception Performance of Visually Impaired Infants" (Kay Ferrell); "Pedagogical Methods and Materials Helping Severely Multihandicapped Blind Children To Develop" (Lilli Nielsen); "Sibling Parenting: Is This Part of the Answer?" (Susan Ruff); "A Correspondence Course for Parents of Preschool Visually Handicapped Children" (Ralph Peabody); "The Visually Handicapped Child: Early Intervention in Developing Countries" (Theo Pauw); "Facilitating Peer Interaction of a Multihandicapped Blind Preschooler" (Susan Workman); and "Play Behavior and Language as Indicators of Cognitive Development in Young Children with Low Vision" (Sandra Parsons). (JDD)