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14
maladjusted children and a Day Unit for children in the autistic group opened
in the Autumn Term ofthe year under review. This will be an extremely valuable
addition to the provision for handicapped children in the Borough. The
maladjusted children can be kept under constant review by the Child Guidance
Psychiatrist and the Educational Psychologist while return to ordinary school
can be quickly and easily effected where children have responded to the
therapeutic environment of the special school.
Those children in the autistic group who may benefit from the type of
education that can be provided in such a Unit will no longer have to go to
residential schools provided they can be looked after within their family. They
will also be under constant review by the Consultant Psychiatrist and rapid
response can be made to their changing needs. The autistic syndrome varies
markedly from child to child and only long term observation in a Unit of this
kind can ensure in many cases just what kind of educational provision is best
for any particular child. The number of children with autism is small, being
estimated at two to four per ten thousand school children but they cause a
great deal of distress to their parents and nationwide provision is still not
sufficient. It is a source of satisfaction to have such a Unit in the Borough.
Nutrition
Average heights of fourteen to seventeen year old boys and girls seem to
have reached a plateau over the previous few years. There is some slight
indication that height may still be increasing in the five and six year old groups
which may indicate a continuing tendency to earlier maturing. Average weight
also remains fairly constant. Dr. Simmonds and Miss Hunt, a Health Visitor,
have conducted Clinics for overweight children throughout the year and reports
will be found in Part II.
The Education (Milk) Act, 1971, abolishing free school milk for children
over seven years in ordinary junior schools, except on medical grounds, came
into operation on 1st September, 1971. Though all School Medical Officers,
Head Teachers of junior schools, School Nurses and Education Welfare
Officers had been circulated in the preceding April, asking for names of
children who might qualify for free school milk, very few names were put forward.
The Education Committee decided to send a letter to all parents of
children in the affected age group at ordinary primary and junior schools in the
Borough inviting them to put their children forward for medical inspection if
they wished them to be considered for free milk. The parents of 20,154 children
were circulated and applications were received from parents of about 2,100
children who had medical examinations. Of these, 330 children (15.7%) were
recommended for free milk. Eight year old children will be routinely examined
in 1972 and School Doctors have been advised to be on the look-out for any
further children who may qualify for free milk. At the initial routine school
medical inspection at five years and at any special medical inspection in the
future the possibility of a need for school milk in the future will be kept in
mind.
These examinations required seventy four sessions of doctors' time.