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This centre is also to be seen as a part of the whole range
of supportive services which are available or will soon become
available for the mentally handicapped child. It will take its
natural place with the hostel which is being built at Ashburnham
Grove as well as with the Adult Centre, the Industrial Centre and
the domiciliary services provided by the mental health team.
The response of the children to this environment has been
heartening. The improvements in behaviour and aptitudes have
been remarkable and, almost of equal importance, the parents and
relatives of these handicapped children have been made to feel
at long last that education and training is a matter of degree
and not of segregation and priorities. Parents have regained confidence
and feel encouraged to face a future which now holds some
promise. Society is taking an interest in these handicaps and it
is being demonstrated in the most practical way that even with
the most serious incapacities some meaning and purpose can be
infused into the lives of these children and their parents.
Staff
The staff consists of the following:—
Head Teacher
Deputy Head Teacher
Seven Teachers (one with special responsibility)
A School Sister
Four Guide Attendants
A ccommodation
The centre provides accommodation for 112 children in 3
main groups, as under: —
(1) Nursing Unit
Notwithstanding that the unit is intended mainly to serve the
needs of 20 children between the age of 3½ and 5 years in the
severely subnormal range, a few selected subnormal children w o
suffer from specific problems such as walking, speech, self-feedi; g,
or behaviour, are accepted in order that they may, with appropriate
assistance, subsequently gain entrance to a special school.
This nursery is designed to make the change from home and
mother to school and teacher as painless and happy a transition
as possible and, in a purposefully maintained informal atmosphere,
the little isolated entrant is encouraged to become a real member
of a group and to participate in its activities.
In this respect, a wide variety of pleasant, easy-to-han !le
equipment is necessary to provide the stimulating environment
so essential for developing the potential of the incoming child.