View report page

102
mothers taught how to adapt themselves to the child's needs at this
stage so that development can take place in a healthy way. Our knowledge
of what goes on in the child between these ages has extended
enormously, largely as the result of psycho-analytic investigations, but
our understanding has only acquired much depth within the last few
years, is still fragmentary, and there is much we still do not understand.
However, sufficient is known, of extreme value. The problem of
making sure that these discoveries become common knowledge is
one of our immediate tasks.
Similar clinics are starting in other parts of the country, but it may
still be described as pioneer work.
The general principle is that the ordinary, healthy new-born baby can
quite reasonably be expected to grow into an ordinary, healthy adult if,
first his mother, and later, both parents have the knowledge of how to
provide a suitable setting in which the child can grow up. He becomes
ill as a reaction to the failure of maternal (parental) understanding,
their failure to adapt to his needs, and often active interference with
each stage of his development. This last is because of failure to realise
that each child has its own natural speed of acquiring skill, control
and knowledge, and that it should be allowed to go at that speed and
not at one decided upon by the parents. Several factors may bring
this about. The parents themselves may be mentally sick, they may be
misadvised, or commonly, uninformed, though they are willing and
eager to do their best within the limits of their knowledge. Quite
often, parents act on what they think is knowledge but which quite
often turns out to be popular mythology; for these parents, and those
who have difficulty because of their anxieties, help is provided in the
clinic during the interview. For those whose difficulties are greater
because of a more severe emotional disorder, adequate facilities for
psychiatric treatment must ultimately be provided elsewhere.
We think that this new venture is the beginning of a really worthwhile
fusion of therapeutic and preventive medicine".
Epileptic Children
In December, 1953, the Minister of Health issued Circular 26/53
concerning the special welfare needs of epileptics and spastics. Statistics
published in this circular gave an estimate of the number of epileptics
in the British population as 2.0 per 1,000 which in the school population
of Tottenham and Hornsey means an expected finding of approximately
60 epileptics. Similar statistics for the number of epileptic children
severe enough to be ascertained are 0.2 per 1,000 which would give
an expected number in Tottenham and Hornsey of six children.
The actual number of epileptic children known to the school health
service is 61.
As a result of the issue of the Ministry circular certain steps were
taken. Firstly, it was decided to keep a record of all cases of epilepsy
coming to the notice of the school health service. General practitioners
in the Area were circularised and requested to inform the Borough
school medical officer of all known and suspected cases as soon as
possible after the age of two; secondly, to continue the practice