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115
I. C., aged 10, had her left leg amputated at the hip-joint,
but she can walk fairly well on crutches. She has not previously
been to school, but both parents and child are anxious that she
should receive some education. The girl lives very near the
Beaumont Park Schools, and the mother has made arrangements
with a neighbour's child to escort her to school, so I. C. is being
tried in the Infants Department in order to avoid the difficulty
with stairs.
In all cases of physical deformity, parents are warned that
full responsibility cannot be undertaken by the teachers, though
special arrangements are made to minimise risk of any accident.
We have much pleasure in reporting the progress of A. B.,
a child who was suffering from tuberculous disease of the kneejoint.
The child had to wear an apparatus to keep her knee stiff,
and at the request of the S.M.O. in 1908 the Education Committee
provided her with an Ilkley couch and table, which the child
used in school.
The child has been under observation of the S.M.O., and has
always made good progress, both physically and mentally. In
October, 1911, she had improved so much that the special couch
and apparatus were no longer necessary. A. B. is now able to
use an ordinary desk, to her great delight, and the head mistress
states that she is one of the most promising pupils in the dancing
class!
The chair and table have been transferred to another school
for a similar case, where an equally satisfactory result is much
desired.
The original cost of the special chair was £1 10s. 6d., and
it has the advantage of being suitable for children of different sizes.
An alternative method of education in the case of A. B. would have
been attendance at one of the L.C.C. special schools, at a cost of
£10 per annum in addition to the charge of conveyance, and the
special chair is still in use; so the financial outlay has proved a
good investment.