This report of the Committee on National Needs for the Rehabilitation of the Physically Handicapped focuses on the current problems in the field, the areas in which additional knowledge is needed, and directions in which the society and government should move both with respect to the acquisition of knowledge and a more effective organization of effort. Listed among recommendations is that for major areas of disability. A comprehensive national overview should be developed outlining in full its demography, national cost, and related social and organizational structure. Rehabilitation is discussed in terms of the medical and social framework, demography, organizations and programs, the policy picture, and economics. A section on the state of the art in science and technology and their application covers research and development, blindness and low vision, hearing and speech, manipulation and locomotion, and basic neuroscience and rehabilitation. (Author/BB)