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18
CHILD GUIDANCE CLINIC
I am grateful to Dr. G. Crosse for the following report
Of the many developments in the Child Guidance Service during the
year under review, the most important has been the arrangement by which
the Principal Educational Psychologist, Mr. R.S. Reid, and his assistants,
Mr. J.P. Edwards and Mrs. M. Sorton-Jones, attend the Clinic on a
weekly sessional basis. In practical terms it has brought help in the
form of comprehensive psychological and educational assessments on
all children attending the Clinic. The Clinic team value their support and
guidance in difficult diagnostic and treatment problems which are discussed
at the weekly case conferences. These discussions exemplify
the close co-ordination which has developed between the school psychological
service and the Clinic. They also provide a basis for a quick and
reliable communication with the teaching staff and schools.
The appointment of Mr. D.F. Griggs as charge male nurse to the day
hospital unit in March 1966 got this project off to a quiet start. The
number of children in the unit has grown steadily over the year, and the
appointment of Miss B. Andrews as staff nurse, and Mrs. A. Telford as
teacher came in time to enable the Clinic to support two large treatment
groups. We would like to thank the Croydon and District Society for
Mentally Handicapped Children whose support made possible the appoint
ment of staff nurse Andrews. The morning programme is aimed at autistic
and the other severely disturbed children in the infant and junior school
range, while the afternoon group tends to consist of the older secondary
school children with a variety of emotional problems. Every child in
attendance at the day unit is a complex problem in treatment and education,
and the bulk of them have either been excluded from school or are
unable to attend at all. Each of them requires a great deal of individual
attention and for this reason a ceiling is put on the size of each group.
Dr; Stella Ring was appointed a locum Senior Registrar in place of
Dr. Marjorie Hare who obtained an appointment as part time Medical
Assistant in the Group. Dr. Hare devotes two sessions of her contract
to the Child Guidance Clinic and takes a special interest in court work.
Dr. D.H. Melville-Swarries was appointed Psychiatric Registrar in
December.
The appointment of Miss M. Gradwell and Miss M.R. Heller as
psychiatric social workers has enabled the Clinic team to develop the
social and case work aspects of nearly all problem children referred for
help. Miss Gradwell has initiated a scheme for the training of two
students who are taking a two year course in social work at Croydon Technical College.
Technical College.
Miss Heller is developing group techniques for the
support and guidance of parents of children referred to the Clinic.