The counselling effectiveness of guidance officers (GOs) was examined in astudy involving 21 State secondary schools in Queensland. Students from Year8 to Year 12 from each school were asked to rate the level of satisfactionwith a counselling session. This was measured by the Client SatisfactionQuestionnaire (CSQ) developed by Larsen, Attkisson, Hargreaves and Nguyen(1979). Based on Strong's (1968) Social Influence model, counselling wasassumed to be an interpersonal influence process. Therefore these studentsalso rated their perceptions of a GO's counselling attributes on theCounselor Rating Form – Short Version (CRF-S; Corrigan & Schmidt, 1983).Results indicated that ratings on the 12 CRF-S items as a total as well as anumber of individual items significantly predicted CSQ scores. Studentratings on both questionnaires were high and possible explanations areconsidered. Also, several GO and student variables (e.g. sex of student,willingness, year level) were found to significantly predict satisfaction.Additionally, a number of these GO and student variables (e.g. GO and sex ofstudent, willingness, the number of counselling sessions) were also found todifferentially affect students' perceptions of GOs' counsellingattributes.

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of numerousexplanations for ongoing behaviour disturbance in children both at home andschool. With an incidence rate of between 5% and 10% in the generalpopulation, it accounts for a significant percentage of patients presentedat child guidance facilities. It is a pervasive and chronic developmentaldisorder as apparent from its natural course. Treatment, while effective inthe short-term, has limited impact on the long-term prospects for thesechildren. Current research in multi-modal, long-term treatment is howeverproducing more positive results. Presentation of research findings on theclassroom behaviour of ADHD are followed by consideration of several methodsfor assessing the disorder. The paper concludes with a brief outline of therole teachers, guidance officers and school counsellors can play in thismajor childhood disorder.

Gifted underachievers are children who display a discrepancy between highachievement and actual performance. Focusing on gifted children with along-standing pattern of underachievement not explicable in terms oflearning disability, this paper adopts a developmental perspective to theproblem of gifted underachievement. Literature is reviewed on the affectivedevelopment of gifted underachievers and the environmental factors which mayfoster or diminish success in school. It is argued that cognitive andaffective variables do not operate independently and should not beconsidered in isolation from the environmental context of development.Further, gifted underachievers are situation-specif icand highly variable.Finally, implications for intervention are discussed in light of the need toview children's development not as a dichotomy of cognitive and affectivechange but holistically, as a complex interaction of child andenvironment.

Down's Syndrome has long been associated with mental retardation. This hasresulted in expectations of moderate or severe mental retardation inindividuals with Down's Syndrome (Hopkins, 1983). Although there has beenacceptance of the possibility of variability of attainments, a certainpredictability of outcome has been assumed since Down's Syndrome is acondition resulting from known chromosomal abnormalities (Springer &Steele, 1980; Hopkins, 1983).

School phobics/ref usals form a heterogeneous group of students whosedifferent etiology necessitates an understanding of different managementstrategies. Although anxiety and psychosomatic symptoms are common traits ofthe condition, a multi-faceted approach of evaluating and working with theschool environment, the family and the student is needed. Younger studentshave responded well to behaviourally based strategies, while older andadolescent school phobic students are more resistant to treatment, with theschool phobia often one aspect of a more complex social-emotional problem.The need to have the student return to school, yet still provide support andunderstanding to the family and the student is critical. Persistence,consistence and cooperation on the part of the school and family areimportant factors in the management strategies.

This paper argues the need for the setting up of an Affective Needs SupportResource to complement needs support functions currently being implementedin Queensland State high schools. Such a resource is valuable in its ownright for enhancing the quality of life of all students but is seen to be anurgent need if the integration of disabled students is to succeed.