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Discussions on secondary provision within the Borough for children with impaired hearing has been
continuing, the interest in and helpful advice on the project having been obtained of Mr! J. E. J. John of the
Department of Audiology and Education of the Deaf at Manchester University.
The Peripatetic Service
29 pre-school and school age children have been receiving regular help from the Peripatetic Teachers of
the Deaf at home, in school or at the Beckenham Audiology Clinic. This help varies in intervals from twice a week
to once a fortnight and takes the form of speech improvement, auditory training, parent guidance, language
development, remedial reading, number work etc. About two thirds of the teachers' time is devoted to these
regular cases; one session a week is spent at the Audiology Clinic with Medical Officers of the Health Department
and most of the remaining time at schools assessing new cases and checking on children with hearing aids etc.
In our endeavour to retain as many partially hearing children as possible in their neighbourhood schools we have
been helped not only by their parents but also by many busy teachers who involve themselves actively in the
childrens progress.
Apart from the weekly clinics with either Dr. Lewis or Dr. Luscombe both of whom take a keen interest
in our work and give us unfailing assistance, there have been in the course of the year several meetings of the
ascertainment team, consisting of these two School Medical Officers, The Educational Psychologists and the
Teachers of the Deaf. These assess the progress of our hearing impaired children and consider any who may be
causing concern. Two meetings have been held at Darrick Wood and the remainder at the School Psychological
Service centre at St. Paul's Wood Hill. These meetings have been productive of useful advice and more so this
year as a result of our jointly devising a comprehensive report form for completion by the teachers of the
children.
Not included in our statistical analysis are the increasing number of children with minor hearing
defects being brought to our notice not only by the Principal School Medical Officer but also by the Heads of
schools. Many of these appreciate our function of helping to avoid any educational retardation due to a loss of
hearing by ascertaining and advising on its existence as early as possible. We depend on their interest for this and
are grateful for it.
Some of our children have participated in research conducted by Miss Alison Barclay of the Institute of
Education at London University into ways in which children with severely impaired hearing can be helped to keep
up in ordinary schools. This has involved them in tests and experimental studies and their parents and teachers in
the completion of questionaires; they have all co-operated very willingly. Although the findings are not yet
complete we hope they will suggest further ways of adapting deaf and partially hearing children to their neighbourhood
environment.
Expenditure has been mainly on consolidating the provision of hearing aids and other amplifying equipment—e.g.
individual inductance loops in ordinary classrooms. Although this may suggest disproportionate
expenditure on one child, this system has great advantages for that child.
Throughout the year the interest and helpfulness of parents, teachers and others whose work brings them
into the field of deaf education has been marked. We much appreciate this, and would also like to thank the
administrative staff concerned with us, whose knowledge of our work and whose efforts on our behalf it is easy
to expect.
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