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61
OBSERVATION/HANDICAP REGISTER
The geographical distribution and the numbers of handicapped
children in Lambeth, according to Child Health Centres, is shown in Table 1.
It is interesting to note that the rate (one handicapped child per thousand
normal children under 5) has considerably increased since 1969 in all but three
Child Health Centre areas (Table 2).
Table 3 shows the occurrence of some handicaps in the population of
under 5's.
It would be extremely difficult to assess the incidence of the handicaps in
the population of under 5's on a National scale, as the appropriate figures are
not readily available. We can, however, compare the incidence of handicaps
in Lambeth with the figures quoted in the National Child Development Study
for seven year olds. (Table 4).
Battered Babies Syndrome:
Table 5 shows the pattern of referral of battered babies to the Observation
Handicap Register. The sudden increase of notification in 1970 followed the ve
detailed procedure of reporting of cases of battered babies elaborated by the
Director of Health and circulated among General Practitioners, Hospitals, and
other agencies. It is unfortunate that, except for King's College Hospital, the
level of notification of battered babies was not maintained.
The monthly conferences held at King's College Hospital, mentioned by
Professor C. Eric Stroud in his evaluation at the close of this Report, proved to
be of great value to the understanding of this difficult problem.
Paediatric Developmental Assessment Clinics:
The need for an early developmental assessment of children in order to
diagnose a developmental delay or an initial handicap has been discussed and
stressed in previous annual Reports.
Every child who attends the Developmental Assessment Clinic is
evaluated with regard to the following functions: Motor, Visual, Auditory,
Language, Learning, Drive, Emotional and Social, together with a physical,
examination.
The initial developmental screening of young children takes place in
Child Health Centres.