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63
OBSERVATION/HANDICAP REGISTER
As in the previous year the Observation/Handicap Register has concentrated
on two aims; the early identification and registration of a handicapped child and
the promotion of any necessary medical and/or social action for the handicapped
child. On 31 December 1970 there were 640 children on the Register. During the
year many names were taken off either because the chronic condition from which
they initially suffered was successfully treated in paediatric departments of
hospitals or the general or specific delay in development was overcome by the
appropriate action in the community.
On the approach of their 5th birthday many of the children from the
Observation/Handicap Register are referred to the School Health Service with a
recommendation for admission to ordinary schools, without any reservations, as
they have learned to manage their handicap. Some children referred to the School
Health Service and recommended for ordinary school still need supportive therapy
in one form or another. Small numbers are recommended for special schools, and
the severely mentally handicapped children for one of the Junior Training Schools.
In many cases the choice between ordinary school or special school for the rising
5 is dictated not solely by the degree to which the child's physical handicap
limits his normal functioning, but by the additional environmental hazards such
as lack of acceptance and security within the family, absence of appropriate
training in self-reliance through either parental neglect or parental over-protection.
Happily, the majority of parents display common sense and loving concern in
dealing with their handicapped children, often under most taxing circumstances.
The difficulties in promoting clean habits and the appropriate daily routine in a
severely mentally handicapped child where the family lives in an overcrowded
house with an outdoor shared lavatory, without bathroom or hot water are
extreme. Often it is impossible for a mother to keep hospital or clinic appointments
if, for instance, she has to carry her heavy, incapacitated 4-year-old spastic child
up and down five flights of stairs twice daily; and who would look after the rest
of her young family if she fell? A great deal of assistance is needed for the families
of handicapped children in Lambeth, in the form of various community facilities.
To recommend the appropriate provisions, both good judgment and a great
deal of accurate up to date information is essential. The information should come
directly from those who deal most closely with handicapped children, namely,
the parents. With this in mind, a survey of how families of severely mentally
handicapped children live in Lambeth iS being planned and will begin in the early
part of 1971.
The day nurseries continue to admit handicapped children in numbers not
exceeding 10% of their population. A considerable number of handicapped
children do not attend day nurseries because of lack of vacancies, and yet this
service means a great deal to the families, and most of all to the child. There are,
however, some handicapped children, the nature of whose disability is such that,