Little has been written about the effects of sports activities on neurological diseases such as cerebral palsy, hemiplegia, brain trauma and paraplegia, and the available reports are mainly related to cardiopulmonary parameters. Compared to the securing of physiological data, it is more difficult to operationally define, or quantify questions concerning the motivation and social background--in a broader sense, sociological background--of the patient. Both data, however, are indispensable to rehabilitation. The experiences gained with a group of children with spina bifida attending a school for the physically handicapped, are used to describe the sequela of the central nervous system defect with which the physical education instructor has to cope, and stresses how important mutual information amongst the team members is for successful rehabilitation. The criteria for sports activities with spina bifida children are: (a) to promote their independence, (b) to give them socialisation stimuli, (c) to enhance their physical performance. It is hoped with this programme that a further personality maturation and stabilisation be achieved.