[Report 1948] / School Medical Officer of Health, Buckinghamshire County Council.

  • Buckinghamshire (England). County Council. n 50052973.
Date:
1948
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1948] / School Medical Officer of Health, Buckinghamshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    13/26 (page 13)
    Blind PupUt. Tliese children are so hliiul as to need education by methods not involving; the use of sight. These methods are liiglily specialised and are concentrated in a few schools throughout the country; so that such special schooling is in almost all cases residential. Partially Sighted Pupils. These children’s sight is so defective that they need special education, hut methods involving the use of sight can be used. Blind- ness in' one eye, if the other be gwod, does not constitute partial sightedness. These children have in the past been educated in the same schools as the blind; but it is now considered preferable to send them to special schools for the partially blind. Deaf Pupils. These are, in effect, tha “ deaf and dumb,” and they have to be taught by methods suitable for children without naturally acquired speech or language. They are generally deaf from birth or from such an early age that they have no knowledge of words at all; not only can they not speak or understand speech—they have no words in which to think. This is therefore one of the most seriouS' handicaps from which a child can suffer, and none but the most specialised educational methods can save the children from becoming secondarily mentally defective. Partially Deaf Pupils. These children are sufficiently deaf to require special educational treatment, but they are not without speech and do' not require all the special techniques that are needed to teach the deaf and dumb. .Deaf- ness in one ear, the other being good, does not constitute partial deafness for this purpose. Delicalte Pupils. These are children who are below par physically, so that they cannot stand the strain of normal schooling, and require education in'eonditions where the curriculum is adapted to their capacity and where special attention is paid to rest and sleep, diet, exercise, fresh air, etc. In most cases the handicap is temporary, and such children can return to their ordinary schools after a few months at a special “open air” school. Debility after serious illness is probably the commonest cause of this temporary handicap. In other cases, a constitutional weakness results in a continuous or intermittent need for such special schooling—children with asthma or chronic bronchitis are examples. In almost all cases, these children improve tremendously during their stay at these “open air” schools. (The name is a little misleading, as rather less emphasis is placed nowadays on the “ hardening off ” part of the regime). Unfortunately a proportion of them, returning to adverse home conditions, tend to relapse, and sometimes repeated spells at a special school are necessary. There is no school for delicate pupils in Bucks. Such a school would supply a very real need. Twenty delicate pupils were placed during 1948 in “open air” schools. The average duration of stay was for 4i months. A distinction is to be drawn between the special schooling provided for delicate pupils and convalcaccncc, to which reference has i)een made earlier in this report. Convalescence is provided for periods of less than one month, and no provision is made for education during that time. Diabetic Pupils. These are children who are in need of special education on account of diabetes. Not all children with diabetes come within this category. In the mildest cases there is no interference with ordinary schooling. l.I