View report page

94
Occupations for girls.—For girls, the various branches of millinery and fine needlework, which
have already proved successful, could scarcely be improved on, though a certain number might be well
placed, either in clerical occupations or the artistic trades. A branch which appears to offer openings
is that concerned with many processes in the photographic trade—finishing, retouching, and the like.
This is a particularly suitable occupation for those who can only rely on light employment and need
considerable rest.
Severe cases.—For the residuum of those of either sex with severe deformities or paralysis, particularly
when these are associated with mental enfeeblement, there is little real economic opening.
Employability in relation to insurance.—War-time experience has shown that an important point
from the medical or surgical aspect in the subsequent placing out of the disabled is the question of insurance
from accident under the Workmen's Compensation Act, and this, no doubt, also affects the
physically-defective as they attain maturity. As a rule, there is no medical examination prior to
insurance, but should an accident occur the previous history of the case is brought up in relation to
the assessment of the compensation and the acceptance of liability of the company. Some of the larger
of the insurance companies appear to offer little objection to a small number of partially defective
employees being taken on by a firm, but some of the smaller companies are more stringent in their
requirements. From the standpoint of insurance, it might generally be said that the engineering trades
would have to be excluded, and carpentry and joinery would be unacceptable so far as general work
is concerned, though cabinet-making and wood-carving might be permissible. Most of the building
trades must be excluded for work other than that of a draughtsman. Probably objections will be found
in regard to most varieties of factory work, tailoring, and the like, which involve the use of heavy
implements.
Need for conveyance to special centres.—From the medical standpoint the question of conveyance
is one of the greater difficulties in relation to school attendance of physically defective children. Since
the number of possible trades is far greater than can be accommodated in any one school, it is necessary
to consider the extent to which children can travel for special instruction. In many instances, their
attendance at a school would do little to embarrass the general curriculum, and in the case of some
of the relatively more skilled artistic trades such travel would seem likely to offer the most favourable
opportunities. The difficulty in connection with travelling other than by ambulance arises in some
measure from the fact that school hours somewhat coincide with the greatest congestion of the general
traffic. No doubt in many instances children could travel with safefy, and no opposition would be
offered by the parents when they realised that their children were going to receive really skilled instruction
as a result. In some instances, however, it might be that there would be opposition from
the surgeon or physician by whom the children were attended, though this might be diminished by
explanation of the conditions offered. In this connection, it is necessary to bear in mind that the
Act of 1914 provides that a child shall not be sent to a school which is not within reach of the child's
residence, without the consent in writing of the parent, unless it is proved to the satisfaction of the court
that such consent is unreasonably withheld, and, further, that the consent shall not be deemed to be
unreasonably withheld if withheld with the bona fide intention of benefiting the child. In the event
of the family medical adviser having raised opposition to the transfer of the child to a school at some
distance, it is improbable that any action could be taken to enforce attendance.
The types of defectives met with in special schools are of a very variable character so far as the
extent of the resulting disability is concerned. In some cases, e.g., tuberculosis of bones and joints,
children may be disabled at the time of the onset of the disease and may at first have considerable periods
of absence from school. After a time, they would need special care to avoid injury and wyould need
to be conveyed, partly on account of the disablement and partly on account of the surgical apparatus
employed. These conditions often quieten down after a lapse of time, and the child may be able to
travel some distance if necessary, but each case would have to be considered on its individual merits
In cases of paralysis when the lower limb is affected, handicraft work of even considerable complexity
may be possible, but conveyance is a difficulty; when the upper limb is the one affected conveyance
may offer little difficulty, but little or no handicraft may be possible. Children suffering from heart
disease usually require care throughout the school attendance period, and in most cases would be unable
to travel any considerable distance. In a certain number, however, the conditions become in time
so far compensated that they might travel, provided the journey does not involve much exposure or
prolonged standing
Schools for
meutally
defective