View report page

Summary.
63
Miller. The number of new cases dealt with from Council schools during the year
was 224. In addition 80 cases were carried over from the previous year, making
a total of 304 cases for the year 1936. Of this number 179 were boys and 125 girls.
The sources of reference were: school doctors, 125; hospitals and clinics, 42;
school care committees, 40; head teachers, 38; probation officers and children's
courts, 19; parents, friends, etc., 17; private doctors, 8; other agencies, 15. The
reasons for reference were: nervousness, restlessness and excitability, 61; enuresis,
43; backwardness, 42; beyond control, 27; night terrors, sleepwalking, 16;
theft, pilfering, 15; aggressiveness, spitefulness, destructiveness, 14; habit spasm,
10; reading disability, 10; other reasons, 66. The results obtained were: satisfactorily
adjusted, 54; partially adjusted, 29; unsuitable, 41; failed to attend,
39: advice only. 15: still under treatment. 126.
North
Western
child
guidance
clinic.
The work at the North Western child guidance clinic has continued during the
year 1936. The number of Council school children dealt with was 18, of whom
8 were boys and 10 girls. The sources of reference were: school care committees,
8; private doctors, 4; probation officers, 3; other agencies, 3. The reasons for
reference were: stealing, 6; truancy, 3; unmanageable and jealous, 3; other
reasons, 6. The results obtained were: satisfactorily adjusted, 3; partially
adjusted, 2; unadjusted or unsuitable, 6; still under treatment, 7.
Guy's
hospital
child
guidance
The treatment of child patients as a separate entity in the department of psychological
medicine at Guy's hospital was commenced in January, 1930. Up to that
time they had been dealt with concurrently with adults in the out-patients' department.
The work is under the direction of Dr. E. D. Gillespie, and conforms to the
the generally accepted principles adopted at other child guidance clinics. With a
view to assisting the clinic, the Council in March, 1936, with the consent of the
Board of Education, agreed to its recognition under section 80 of the Education
Act, 1921, in order that the attendances of the children might be recognised as
equivalent to attendance at school. During 1936 the number of school children
between the ages of 5 and 14 years dealt with at the clinic was 283, of whom 196
were boys and 87 girls. The largest source of reference of the cases was the local
education authority, chiefly the London County Council, the number being 124.
The chief reasons for reference may be stated as follows: behaviour disorders,
personality deviations, sleep disorders, psychoneurosis, fits and attacks, and speech
defects. An analysis of cases shows that about 25 per cent. were much improved
by treatment, 37 per cent. showed some improvement, 9 per cent. were unchanged,
and 2 per cent. were worse, the remaining 27 per cent. being disposed of in various
ways, e.g. lapsed, insufficient information, etc.