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42
It may be noted that in general the reading age is far below the mental age as
shown by tests of the Binet pattern. The physical conditions of the defectives were
very varied, some being quite sound whilst others had heart disease, paralysis, epilepsy
and the sequelae of encephalitis lethargica. The schools at which they had been in
attendance were:—
(a) Schools for mentally defective 28
(b) Elementary schools 15
(c) Poor-law schools 3
(d) Schools for the deaf 2
(e) Industrial schools 2
Total 50

Of the cases which had left school before the passage of the Mental Deficiency
Acts, one had been discharged as being unfit to benefit by further school attendance,
having reached his mental limits.
In the cases which had been placed under statutory supervision, institutional
care had been recommended, but action had been deferred owing to the refusal of
consent by the parent under such circumstances that it was not possible to show that
this consent was unreasonably withheld.
Of the cases placed under voluntary after-care, one had an excellent report for
conduct in the day school and subsequently attended an evening school, gaining three
certificates for first-aid and home nursing. In 1926, however, there was a conviction
for criminal assault for which the defective was placed on probation, and the repetition
of the offence in 1931 rendered institutional care inevitable.
In connection with the number placed under voluntary after-care, it may be
noted that the greater number left school before the amending Mental Deficiency
Act, 1927, came into operation. This Act permitted notification of the names of
cases with a view to statutory supervision, whereas under the provision of the
principal Act it was only possible to notify the names of those cases for which the
local education authority deemed institutional care or guardianship to be essential.
(b) Of those who had attended elementary schools, two who had come from the
provinces, and one who had been at school in Ireland, would have been recommended
for admission to a special (M.D.) school had they been London children. One who
had been at school in Scotland was too high a grade both mentally and educationally
for admission to a special (M.D.) school, and it is probable that his moral instability
was not very evident during his school career. Of the eleven who had attended
elementary schools in London, three were congenital defectives but had been at
school prior to the passage of the Education (Deaf and Epileptic Children) Act, 1899;
one had been recommended for a special (M.D.) school but evaded attendance thereat
by leaving London; five were border-line cases though their educational attainments
were a little above the special school level; one, who, owing to his ability as a letter
writer, had caused doubt in the mind of the magistrate, was permitted two periods of
probation during which he demonstrated conclusively his complete irresponsibility