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144
Visits
Visits to the handicapped during the year totalled 9,643,
compared with a figure of 7,864 for 1967. This is equivalent to
an increase of more than 22 per cent.

Welfare of the Blind and Partially Sighted
In contrast with a deaf or dumb handicap, blindness has always
had public support and sympathy and its difficulties have been
more readily understood possibly because it is easier to envisage
a world without sight than a life without speech or sound.
Congenital blindness needs the deep understanding of loving
parents but, above all, it demands constant application towards the
practical aspects of ameliorating the handicap. In this respect the
parents need skilled guidance and encouragement to ensure that a
child's full potential is realised.
A blind child's progress towards adulthood must be closely
followed and necessary adjustments made for the changes in
practical and emotional conflicts especially at the stage when a
decision has to be made with regard to vocational training and
again when the time comes for placement in sheltered or open
employment.
Particularly difficult problems arise with those who, for various
reasons, become blind in middle age. These people, usually with
family commitments, need rehabilitation and resettlement in
appropriate employment and, during this interim period of shock
and helplessness, the individual and family need the fullest support