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26
CHILD GUIDANCE CENTRE.
The report of Ur. Portia Holman, the Psychiatrist is as
follows :—
1945 has been this Centre's first full year, but unfortunately,
the working of the Centre was interrupted by resignations of
members of the original team during the second half of the year.
This has led not only to a gap in the activities of the Centre but also,
inevitably, to reconsideration and changes of policy. Hence it
is not easy to give a very full report, neither can the account of
this year's work be taken as a reliable basis on which to estimate
the extent of the Centre's work in the future.
In the report submitted at the end of 1944 only cases seen
by the Psychiatrist were discussed. It seems better for 1945 to
include all cases referred, as this gives a clearer picture of the
problems confronting those availing themselves of the Centre's
services and will serve for purposes of comparison next year.
Table I. Analysis of Work.
During the year 276 children were referred of whom 180 cases
were seen by some member of the Centre's team. They also saw
22 cases carried over from 1944, making the total of those claiming
attention during the year 298, and of those receiving it, 202. The
96 not seen by the end of the year include 26 children who were
withdrawn either because their parents were unwilling or unable to
bring them to the Centre, or because their symptoms had cleared up
spontaneously in the interim. In addition, 55 cases were judged to
be partially or wholly " educational," and were left to be dealt
with by the Educational Psychologist who was to be appointed
early in 1946.
Of the 202 cases seen, 43 were discussed by the Child Guidance
team and then advised by the Psychiatric Social Worker, as full
examination did not seem necessary ; 90 were given Intelligence
Tests and discharged after advice from the Psychologist to parents
and teachers. This leaves 84 who were in need of the full services
of the Centre : of these 29 were discharged after diagnosis and advice
from the Psychiatrist and 40 were put down for treatment. Of
the last 22 were treated in 1945 and 17 were still awaiting treatment
at the end of the year ; 15 remained on the waiting list to be seen
in 1946.
Of the 90 children discharged after Intelligence Tests 84 were
referred specifically for educational backwardness and of these
44 were found to have I.Q.'s below 70 (i.e., to be in need of special
education). A high proportion of those referred to the new
Educational Psychologist may also be presumed to be of less than
average intelligence. These are not, of course, the children for
whom Child Guidance Services are designed. In future, when the