The life of a child with a disability presents special challenges for the child, parents, and family members. Whereas health care in the past used to focus on the disabilities, nowadays questions regarding the development potential of these special children have become increasingly important.

The “constitution typology” described in this Companion has been used in institutions around the world for decades. The approach is an answer to the need in healthcare to understand how the developmental potential of the child can be optimally realized.

How can we look at children using “constitutional typology?” Can we find coherence in and give meaning to their appearance and behavioral characteristics? How can this contribute to happier individuals, families, and communities?

This Companion addresses these questions with examples that are recognizable to many. Then it uses a stepwise approach to applying these principles  in healthcare practice. The qualitative concepts from “constitution typology” combined with the 4-step approach as well as an assessment tool developed for this purpose will give parents, doctors, and other care providers an additional angle with which to view the "whole child."

This points the way to new developmental perspectives.