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
Lambeth 1972
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Lambeth Borough]
This page requires JavaScript
78
B. COMPLETE ASSESSMENT AND FOLLOW-UP
Mentally handicapped children, as well as other handicapped children,
attend developmental assessment clinics which are arranged at several levels:
(a) Local Authority developmental assessment clinics are carried out
by four doctors employed by Lambeth. The clinics take place in
venues chosen for the convenience of mothers' transport, and
where necessary, are carried out in the child's own home. The
figures for numbers of children seen in Local Authority assessment
clinics are as follows
TABLE 9 OBSERVATION HANDICAP INDEX FOR 0-5 DECEMBER 1972 Number of Children seen in developmental assessment clinics in Lambeth
| Age | Number | |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | 1971 | |
| 0- 1 | 7 | 26 |
| 1 - 2 | 27 | 34 |
| 2-3 | 43 | 38 |
| 3-4 | 61 | 43 |
| 4 - 4½ | 36 | 28 |
| 4-½ | 36 | 25 |
| Totals | 210 | 192 |
(b) Assessment at Braidwood Audiology Unit. Children with hearing or
speech defects (be they mentally handicapped or of normal intelligence)
are seen at Braidwood Audiology Unit where the services of an
audiologist, a senior speech therapist, two educational psychologists,
a teacher of the deaf and a social worker, are available. The senior
speech therapist and one of the educational psychologists specialise in
language disorders. The second psychologist is mainly concerned with
the assessment of mentally handicapped (severe) children.