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(c) Once a month a joint clinic at Braidwood Audiology Centre looks
at handicapped children with neuro-muscular abnormalities. The
clinic is staffed by Dr. Klein and Dr. Peter Robson (paediatrician from
Guy's Hospital and King's College Hospital) and the "developmental
doctors" who refer the children from their own assessment clinics.
(d) One of the general practitioners in this area has a developmental
assessment clinic for the young children in her own practice and
also sees children at the request of the Handicapped Child Unit.
(e) Some mentally retarded children, as well as others, were until now
assessed in King's College Hospital at the request of consultants. From
October 1971 to October 1972 (before the Sheldon Centre which is
attached to the Belgrave Hospital, was officially open) out of 127
children seen there, the number of Lambeth children was 54 (not
all severely mentally handicapped). There is a school of thought
in the medical profession, that developmental assessment of mentally
handicapped children as a method of detecting additional handicaps
is not effective at an early age, and that medical and para-medical
staff should be differently deployed.
Our experience shows that many additional handicaps were discovered
by the early and repeated assessments of mentally handicapped children
and appropriate medical and other agencies were alerted. In view of
having had this experience, we would favour an even earlier developmental
assessment of children than is now done in this area. This
problem is discussed later in this report.
FOLLOW UP
When a handicapped child has progressed sufficiently to be able to
function at the level of his age in all parameters of development, he or she is
removed from the Observation Handicap Index. If the nature and degree of
the child's handicap allows, and moreover is coupled with an appropriate
personality and a helpful home, he or she is recommended for ordinary school.
Children who will not be able to function in the ordinary schools are recommended
to the Inner London Education Authority for admission to special schools.
Almost all mentally handicapped children belong to the latter category.
C. PROMPT MEDICAL AND SURGICAL TREATMENT
The child population in Lambeth is in the fortunate situation of having
available Departments of Child Health in several hospitals. Children are treated
early and nearly 100% of the mentally handicapped are investigated and followed