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When the list became very long we had to make special arrangements for clinical sessions during
which we could see a very large number of children with more moderate degrees of hearing loss, or onesided
hearing loss, in order to see the more serious cases of children, who need detailed examination,
as soon as possible.
We receive now many requests to test babies "at risk", that is those who may be affected because
of some unfavourable history during pregnancy, birth, or a family history of deafness. We arranged a
special clinical session for this purpose and this is successfully conducted by the Principal Medical
Officer (M. & C.W.). Screening tests are carried out first, and those who do not pass the test are then
referred for full examination.
The number of children seen per session by the consultant had to be temporarily increased as well,
but we hope that this is only a temporary measure, otherwise the quality of work may suffer.
A serious deficiency has arisen because of the inadequate facilities for psychological examination
of the children. This deficiency affected our work quite seriously. We hope things will improve.
The great improvement during the year consisted of the addition of three new rooms gained by
adapting the adjoining war time shelter. These are first class rooms (for teachers, psychologists and
audiometricians) and make the work of our staff very much easier and more effective.
Regular meetings of parents of our pre-school age children were held, and these proved to be a very
important aspect of parent guidance. The success of these meetings is largely due to the enthusiasm
of our two peripatetic teachers of the deaf".
Special Classes for Partially-Hearing Children
There are special classes for partially-hearing children at Devonshire Hill Junior School and
Markfield Secondary Modern School which form an annexe to Blanche Nevile School. The children
admitted need special teaching because of their hearing defect, but otherwise are able fully to take part
in ordinary school life, and the closest integration of these pupils with the school is encouraged at all
levels.
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