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64
Play Group for Pre-School Children.
In January, 1950 a play treatment group was started at
Mattock Lane Clinic for children between the ages of 3½ years—
5 years, and in March, 1953 a similar play group was formed at
Ravenor Park Clinic.
The group meets for eighty minutes twice a week at Mattock
Lane and once a week at Ravenor Park and never contains more
than eight children at any one time.
Experience over the last 3 years has shown the following
results:-
50% were able to start school without handicap.
10% needed residential schooling because of multiple defects.
40% started school still handicapped.
With the exception of stammerers, speech defective children
have great difficulty in grasping the fundamentals of reading as
their confusion of sounds leads to a similar confusion of symbols ;
number work is often equally impaired. This means they may pass
on to the Junior School still unable to read and bearing with them
a sense of inadequacy and lack of interest. Thus a good deal of the
therapist's present treatment of junior speech defectives is centred
on encouraging the child to master his reading problem.
Remedial Speech Class.
During the year a visit by the department was made to Moor
House Residential School for Speech Defectives.
Plans have now gone forward for the opening in 1954 of a
remedial speech training class in a primary school, with concentrated
5 day a week training (as compared with 15 minutes a
week at present).
Approval to the opening of this class has now been given and
it is proposed to establish this in Stanhope Primary School,
Greenford, as soon as a suitable teacher is appointed.
The selection of children (since it is a medical problem) will be
done by Medical Officers and the Speech Therapist. The age of the
children will be between 5-8 years and the class will contain not
more than 12 pupils. The general education will be on the lines
laid down for children of this age in normal schools.
Liaison between teacher, therapist, medical officer and class
must be achieved, and case discussions held between teacher and
therapist each week. The therapist will visit the class every day,
and a Routine Medical Examination will be carried out each term.
In the year 1954 it is hoped to report that the Remedial Speech
Class is firmly established.