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37
The year has been one of patient expectancy as proposals made in
previous years for new special schools were converted into detailed building
plans and models, and early building operations commenced. Fortunately
interim arrangements ensured that waiting lists were not increased.
In 1968, a total of 109 pupils were newly ascertained by the Education
Committee as requiring special educational facilities either in special
school or special units (Table 10). In all cases the medical recommendations
were straightforward and the Consultant Panel did not meet during the
year.
The importance of early detection of handicaps so that adequate educational
arrangements may be made in good time cannot be too strongly
stressed, and reference has been made in the two preceding Reports to the
improvements which have been made in the assessment of pre¬school handicapped
children. A total of 177 pre¬school handicapped children are now
known to the Service., and their likely disabilities are shown in Table 11.
This represents a further increase of 21% compared with the previous year,
and almost twice the number first reported in this table two years ago.
Table 11 must be interpreted with extreme caution, since it is often not
possible to assess the real needs of a handicapped child until he is about
to enter school. Certainly not all of the children recorded in the Table will
require admission to special schools or units. Nevertheless, the figures do
show possible trends and provide a reasonable basis for further planning.
In particular., the striking and continuing increase in the number of physically
handicapped children needs close attention. The decision of the Department
of Education and Science not to include the Committee's proposal for a
nursery unit at St. Giles' in the 1970/71 building programme was a serious
setback, and these figures clearly show the need for these facilities. The
Education Committee has now submitted this project for inclusion in the
1971/72 building programme, and it is hoped that the Department of Education
and Science will be able to give approval. Even so, the youngest child
in this table will be at least 4H years old before any real hope of assistance
can be forthcoming. It is anticipated that the early provision of intensive
medical care in the educational situation of a nursery school will allow
young physically handicapped children to make the kind of all round progress
which would make admission to an ordinary junior school a practical possibility
for the majority. At five years of age the increasing number of spina
bifida children present a combination of problems which precludes their easy
integration into an ordinary school. These problems can be supervised more
easily and indeed resolved in a special school, so permitting the child to
return to his local school at a later date with his educational progress maintained
and with fewer medical problems. This ready acceptance of children
who might not have been considered for admission to a special school in the
past, combined with the overall absolute increase inthe number of physically
handicapped children does emphasise the question whether there are
sufficient places at St. Giles' School for the known and likely demand.