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Report of the Medical Officer (Education).
161
Of the invalided, thirteen were seen again after treatment had been obtained ; six of these returned
to the elementary school unconditionally, three to the elementary school to sit in the front row in
class, three were reported as suitable for a hard of hearing class, and one was sent to a deaf centre.
Any scheme for the proper education of the deaf should be contrived to include all who show
any signs of deafness, from the slightly deaf to the mentally defective or blind deaf-mute, and their
educational treatment should range from those who are able to receive benefit from the ordinary
elementary school for hearing children to those who are obliged to obtain special instruction in a
residential institution for blind and mentally defective deaf-mutes. By using the voice test, every
child who is examined can be drafted provisionally to a suitable school. During the present year,
those who can hear the voice beyond six feet are recorded as fit for an elementary school, those who
can hear it at from six to three feet are fit for an elementary school if they are placed in the front
row, those whose voice hearing is from three feet to one foot are classed as "hard of hearing" and
suitable for a special class, whilst those whose acuity is below one foot require to be taught in a deaf
centre. This rough classification works very well. Cases classified under it can, moreover, be
revised if necessary. Those children who hear the voice at the full distance of the room of 17 feet can be
tested further with the whisper, by which means a number of cases of very early deafness can be
detected and parents advised as to treatment before it is too late. In middle ear deafness it is the
acuity for whispered speech which is the first to go, and this loss is present some time before there
is any noticeable deterioration in ordinary voice hearing. The detection of this loss for the whisper
and the taking of immediate action upon it would lead to a very considerable lessening of the number
of cases of chronic deafness in adult life. Another important symptom in this connection is the
occurrence of transient attacks of earache, not necessarily followed by discharge, in childhood. Such
complaint calls for investigation and treatment; many cases of chronic adult deafness give histories
of these attacks in early life. All cases returned to the elementary school, whether for front row
or not, require watching as regards the future of the hearing.
Of the children seen at the Head Office 123 were classified as "deaf" and drafted to a deaf
centre for special instruction. Four of these were scholars already in deaf schools who were seen before
transference to Anerley or Oak Lodge residential schools, or for other purposes. One was too old
for admission and was exempted from further schooling, having already received special instruction
in the country. Four cases were sent either to evening lip-reading classes or to a deaf school
for special lessons in articulation. Altogether there were 115 cases—56 boys and 59 girls—who were
drafted to special deaf schools because they were too deaf to be taught elsewhere.

(d) Not including suppuration due to the exanthemata.