London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Enfield 1938
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Enfield]
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BLIND, DEAF, EPILEPTIC AND MENTALLY DEFECTIVE
CHILDREN.
There is no special school for the blind in this area, and children
suffering from vision so defective that they are unable to be taught in
an ordinary elementary school are educated either at a special school
in Wood Green or at a residential school for the blind. There are
two such children in Enfield, and they are educated as follows:—
Two girls attending residential schools for the blind.
(One at Swiss Cottage and one at Court Grange Special School).
Deaf and Deaf-mutes.—These children attend the Philip Lane
School for the Deaf, Tottenham. At the end of 1938, 11 children
were attending: three deaf-mutes, three suffering from acquired
deafness, and five suffering from motor aphasia.
Mentally Defective Children.—Thirty-eight children were
examined under the Mental Deficiency Act (1913) during 1938.
The following is a comparative table for the last five years :—
| 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. | Dull and backward, but capable of instructior in an elementary school | 4 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 11 |
| B. | Mentally Defective, but capable of instruction in a special school | 8 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 14 |
| C. | Incapable of further instruction in a special school | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| D. | Imbecile | 1 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 8 |
| Moral Imbecile | — | 2 | — | — | — | |
| E. | Not scheduled | 2 | — | 1 | 1 | 4 |
EXAMINATION AND TREATMENT OF SECONDARY
SCHOOL CHILDREN.
The Enfield Education Committee undertakes the examination
of children attending the secondary schools in the district, on
behalf of the Middlesex Education Committee. There are three such
schools in Enfield, namely, the Grammar, County, and Junior
Technical Schools. The following tables set out the number of
children examined at each school during the course of the year,
and the defects found to be present:—
Jnr.
Technical. Grammar. County.
Number of children examined 117 225 230