London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Ilford 1915
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Ilford]
This page requires JavaScript
33
The model arrangements of the Board of Education for
dealing with supposed mentally defective children were
adopted by the Education Committee, and during the year
an exhaustive examination was made of all the children in
Ilford suspected of mental defect. The School Medical
Officer is brought into touch with these children through the
school teachers and School Attendance Officers. The child
is then subjected to a combined medical and psychological
examination at the hands of the School Medical Officer.
Where necessary a pedogogical report is also obtained from
the child's teacher. As a result of this examination the child
is classified as
(a) normal, dull or backward;
(b) feeble-minded;
(c) imbecile;
(d) idiot;
(e) moral imbecile.
The following table shows the number of children examined, the source of discovery of the child and the result of the examination:—
| Boys. | Girls. | Total. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | B | C | A | B | C | ||
| Not mentally defective, i.e., mentally normal, dull or backward | – | 16 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 38 | |
| Feeble-minded, under 7 years– | _ | _ | 1 | 1 | |||
| do. 7- 15 years | 5 | 16 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 2 | 41 |
| Imbecile, under 7 years | _ | _ | _ | 2 | _ | — | 2 |
| do. 7-15 years | 9 | — | — | 4 | 1 | — | 14 |
| Idiot, under 7 years | |||||||
| do. 7-15 years | 1 | — | — | 2 | — | — | 3 |
| Moral imbeciles | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
A—Reported by School Attendance Officer. B Reported by School Teacher.
C—Reported by School Doctor.