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180
SECTION IX.
MENTAL DEFICIENCY.
The staff of the department dealing with mental defectives
consists of the Medical Officer of Health and the Deputy Medical
Officer and one Assistant Medical Officer, who are certifying
officers; two whole-time Visitors; the Supervisor of the Occupation
Centre, with three helpers.
The two main administrative groups of mentally defectives
were given in my 1937 report.
The statutory cases group are dealt with by the Mental
Deficiency Committee, and the Education cases by the Education
Committee.
The main sources of notifications of school children suspected
to be suffering from mental defects are received from School
Teachers and the School Enquiry Officers. Sources of information
regarding cases not coming within the category of school children
are mainly the Infant Welfare Centres, Health Visitors, Probation
Officers, Private Practitioners and Social Workers.
Number of known Mentally Defective Persons in the Borough—
I. Statutory Cases
Aged 0—5 years 1
Aged 5—16 years 168
Over 16 years 538
Total 707
II. Education Cases—
Aged 7—16 years 184
Combined total 891
Compared with 1937, the Statutory cases show an increase of
29 and the Education cases an increase of 27.