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Parents and their children obtain the services of a Child Guidance Clinic either
by asking for an appointment on their own initiative, or as a result of a referral which
may be from a wide variety of sources; these include head teachers, school medical
officers, general practitioners, the Youth Employment Bureau and the Juvenile Court.
HANDICAPPED CHILDREN
The object of the School Health Service in relation to the handicapped child is
to ensure that the handicap interferes as little as possible with the child's education.
Section 34 of the 1944 Education Act requires the Council to ascertain children likely
to need special education at the age of 2 years, but the procedure in the Borough is
that medical officers and health visitors report handicapped children to the School
Health Service at the earliest age they become known to them. By this means we have
a fairly complete record of all disabled children in the Borough in advance of the time
when we are required to assist them. When such a child approaches school age he is
examined by the school medical officer who decides whether he should be classified
as handicapped in the statutory sense. If this is the case the child is 'ascertained'
as in need of special education. Various types of special education are available
including special classes at ordinary schools, home tuition, or education at special
schools.