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It would appear that a considerable part of the decrease is in those cases in
which blindness is associated with venereal disease, and may be due to the great
improvement in supervision and treatment brought about by means of the London
and Home Counties Scheme for the diagnosis and treatment of venereal disease,
also by the Council as a Midwives Act Authority.
Part of the recent decrease is due to the change in the definition of blindness
brought about by the limitations introduced by the Ministry of Health under the
Blind Persons Act, 1920, whereby blindness for this purpose is limited to those cases
which have a vision of 5/50 or less, or great contraction of the field of vision which
renders a person too blind to perform work for which eyesight is essential. In consequence
of this, a certain number of cases which, in former years, would have been
sent to schools for the blind are now sent to schools for myopic children.
It would appear to be premature to state that the figure for the blind will remain
at 35, or under, per year, but there are no evidences of the probability of any substantial
increase.
Myopic pupils
at secondary
schools.
The Council on 19th January, 1926, approved a scheme for the award of special
scholarships at secondary schools for pupils who are successful at the ordinary
scholarship examinations, but do not pass the medical examination owing to
defective vision, and also to assist pupils from myope schools who have shown
evidence of exceptional ability and who are more suited for a secondary school course
than trade training provided that the parents accept full responsibility for the
risks involved in training. Special classes for such pupils were instituted in
September, 1926, at Raines Foundation School for boys, and the county secondary
schools, Clapton and Peckham, for girls. The regulations for the care of myopes,
given in the Council's annual report for 1926, are carefully observed.
Dr. McVail reports as follows on these classes:—The total number of children
now being taught under sight saving conditions is 37 (32 girls and 5 boys). Of
these, 32 hold Council awards and the remaining 5 are fee payers. None have more
than seven dioptres of myopia in the better eye, the majority ranging between
four and six dioptres. For those with lesser degrees the regulations are to some
extent modified. All are inspected at school every six months, and although a much
longer time must elapse before any definite opinion can be formed as to the results
of secondary school education on the eyes of myopes, the scheme has so far been
successful. In most cases the myopia has, within the year, remained practically
stationary, and in no case has there been any significant increase. Even under
sight-saving conditions some children head their forms, and the social benefits
derived are equally desirable for children whether their aim is scholastic or nonscholastic.
The main difficulty has so far been concerned with home occupation. No
home lessons are allowed, but some children, mostly of high ability, admit to reading
at home. Myopic children in secondary schools are not the only offenders in using
their eyes for close work when unsupervised, and attention is not infrequently drawn
to children in ordinary myope classes who read or do cross-word puzzles at home,
though the temptation is greater among the more intelligent.
Teachers are largely instrumental in devising suitable home occupations. For
instance, at Peckham the holiday task for myopes was the collection of picture post
cards. These were neatly pasted into albums with an inscription in chalk below
each picture. At the same school cameras, instead of books, have been proposed