London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
London County Council 1920
Annual report of the Council, 1920. Vol. III. Public Health
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94
Admission
examinations.
Defective children.
The total number of examinations conducted under the special Acts during the year was 6,301
as compared with 5,494 for 1919. Of these 1,459 (780 boys and 679 girls) were deemed suitable to attend
elementary schools, 98 (47 boys and 51 girls) a blind school, 367 (171 boys and 196 girls) a school for
myopes, 1,216 (608 boys and 608 girls) P.D. School, 1,399 (772 boys and 627 girls) M.D. School, 25
(16 boys and 9 girls) open air school, 88 (44 boys and 44 girls) hard of hearing school, 130 (75 boys
and 55 girls) a deaf school, 40 (20 boys and 20 girls) were epileptic, 559 (277 boys and 282 girls) invalided
from school attendance, 106 (62 boys and 44 girls) imbeciles, 25 (12 boys and 13 girls) idiots, 4 (3 boys
and 1 girl) blind and deaf, 10 (3 boys and 7 girls) deaf and mentally defective.
The following statement shows the nature of the conditions found among the children certified suitable for admission to physically defective schools at the admission examinations during the year:—
| Morbid condition. | Boys. | Girls. | Total. |
|---|---|---|---|
Rota visits.
The special schools were visited at least once a quarter, and every child present was seen at
least once during the year. During these visits the scholars were re-classified; 278 were transferred
to elementary schools, 1 to deaf school, 1 to blind school, 18 from physically defective to mentally
defective schools, 33 were excluded as imbecile, 25 were invalided on medical grounds and 362, over
14 years of age, were excluded as no longer certifiable. In addition, 684 special examinations were
made of children already on the rolls of special schools in connection with applications for nonenforcement
of attendance at special schools, committals to industrial schools, reformatories, etc.
The statistical returns of after-care work had been quite impossible to obtain during the war.
During the last year, the Associations concerned with the after-care of the children have resumed
work on more extensive lines and the following tables have been submitted:—
After careers of children formerly attending special mentally defective schools lor the year ended December 31st 1920. (Data furnished by the London Association for the Care of the Mentally Defective.)
| 1. | Number of children born in or subsequent to 1900, and have left special mentally defective schools | 2,269 | 1,726 | 3,995 |
| 2. Number who— (a) have since died | 15 | 13 | 28 | |
| 83 | 40 | 123 | ||
| (c) are in attendance at an institution for further education | not known. | |||
| (d) are in any other institutions | 19 | 27 | 46 | |
| *3. | Number employed in— | 490 | 372 | 862 |
| 8 | 1 | & | ||
| (c) Domestic occupations (i.e., servants sleeping in or out, lift boys and approximately 10 per cent. " Helping at home ") | 29 | 131 | 160 | |
| 91 | 24 | 115 | ||
| (e) Blind Alley or other precarious occupations (i.e., van-boys, newsboys, errand boys or girls, selling from a barrow) .. | 196 | 77 | 273 | |
| 4. | Number whose after careers have not been traced or who have left the neighbourhood | 1,338 | 1,041 | 2,379 |
| Totals | 2,269 | 1,726 | 3,995 | |
In employment during the last year and mostly during last quarter.
| Under £1. | Between £1 and £2. | Between £2 and £3. | Over £3. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boys. | Girls. | Boys. | Girls. | Boys. | Girls. | Boys. | Girls. | |
| — | ||||||||
| — | — • | — | — | — | — | |||
| — | — | — | — | |||||
| — | — | — | — | |||||
| — | — | — | — | |||||
Note.—Information as to wage earning is only available for the young persons recently visited.
The After Care Association for blind, deaf and crippled children has furnished the foregoing
information, which, however, deals only with about 40 per cent of the total number attending the
schools, these cases having been referred to the Association by the school managers.