[Report 1947] / School Medical Officer of Health, Coventry.

  • Coventry (England). City Council.
Date:
1947
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1947] / School Medical Officer of Health, Coventry. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    House School as a residential pupil. This school, which was opened by the Minister of Education last June, is the first of its kind m Engdand. Although the boy’s speech will never be normal, it is hoped, by daily speech therapy and specially adapted education, to make his talking quite intelligible for social intercourse and to fit him for a suitable occupation “in later life.” The following- are the year’s figures relating to the speech therapy clinic :— Attendances ... ... ••• ••• 1858 Number of new cases ... ... ... ••• 87 ,, case* treated or now under treatment ... ll'J ,, ,, interviews with parents ... ... 241 ,, ,, cases discharged ... ... ... 24 „ ,, temporarily ... ... 33 ,, ,, ,, found unsuitable for speech therapy ... 12 ,, on waiting list at 31st December, 1947 ... 27 School Oculist. Mr. Bishop, the School Oculist, reports :— “ Work in the School Eye Clinic has progressed very satisfactorily during the past year. Several notable steps have been taken to improve the standard of service being rendered by the Clinic. Briefly, these are:— 1. The appointment of a full time orthoptist, Miss A. Pritty. As a result of this, Coventry school children with squints are getting the best possible treatment. There is still unfortunately some delay between diagnosis and the taking on of the child for treatment, which is to be regretted. 2. Selected cases of amblyopia are being referred to Corley Open- Air School, and it should be pointed out that one of the biggest obstacles to obtaining a very high percentage of cures in squints is because certain children with a “ lazy eye ” do not obtain any material improvement on normal occlusion treat- ment. Such cases are generally labelled as intractable ambly- opia, but 1 doubted if such a condition really existed and so the Corley experiment was suggested. Its advantages are that the children are in a group together so that:— (a) A psychological effect of occlusion of the good eye, so often a troublesome factor, is not noticeable. (&) Education can continue more or less normally. (c) The competitive spirit is encouraged. (d) They receive far more of the correct training for the lazy eye than at home. (e) There is constant supervision so that peeping with the good eye is prevented. It is too early at present to draw any definite conclusions from the experiment, but results so far are very encouraging. 3. A much more satisfactory pair of spectacles is now being issued free to children who require glasses. Thev are a great improvement on the old design. 4- A system of staggered appointments has been instituted. As a result, parents and children have a much shorter wait at the clinic before being examined. A waiting period, however, is necessary, as most children are examined after the instillation of eye drops, and it takes 30—45 minutes for these to produce the effect required.”