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38
Early stimulation of speech is vitally important to these
children and every month of delay is likely to hamper the child's
long term development. The reserves of the pre-school services
have been severely taxed by the unexpected influx of young hearing
impaired children, and Dr. Lilian Morgan and Mr. Oakley are
to be congratulated for their efforts in this field. An auditory
training class has been established where these young children
may attend to receive special help with speech, and where
mothers may receive advice on the problems which are experienced.
The speech therapists have also given invaluable help. The
Committee were pleased to accept the gift of a speech trainer
from the Surrey Regional Association of the National Deaf
Children's Society, and this machine is proving to be extremely
useful. Nevertheless the pre-school services cannot be expected
to supervise children who now need day special school provision
in addition to their work with pre-school children. Suitable
educational provision was being considered as a matter of great
urgency.
38 deaf or partially hearing pupils are at present placed in
the following special schools or units and 18 of these pupils
are of secondary age.
Day Pupils Residential Pupils
Kingsley Partially Hearing St. John's School, Boston Spa 1
Unit 9 Hamilton Lodge 1
Partially Hearing Units, Mary Hare Grammar School l
Greater London -
Ovingdean Hall, Brighton 2
Holman Hunt 3
Burwood Park School, Surrey
Sedgehill 1 (deaf) j
Stockwell Manor 1 Nutfield Priory School,
Oak Lodge School (for the Surrey (deaf) 3
deaf) 3 Portley House School, Surrey
Old Kent Road School (deaf) 4 (deaf) 1
Portley House School, Royal School for the Deaf,
Surrey 3 Margate 3
Rudolf Steiner school 1
Since it is often difficult to determine the educational
category of young children with impaired hearing, some nursery
departments may contain pupils of both categories; transfers to
other schools are arranged at a later stage when necessary. This
is particularly true of the Kingsley Unit and I am grateful to
Mrs. R. Parsons for the following report.