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Teaching
A considerable amount of teaching has been carried out at the clinic, teachers of the deaf who were
attending the course at the Institute of Education visited in small groups, and were also attached
for further guidance to our peripatetic teachers and attended our parent meetings. Medical Officers,
Health Visitors and other Student Nurses attended individually at the clinic for teaching and
demonstrations.
A two-day course for Health Visitors was held in October and 39 Health Visitors attended from
various Boroughs in the Greater London Area. This was very successful and very ably organised
by Miss Frost, the Health Education Officer.
Booklet on High Frequency Hearing Loss
In co-operation with Miss Frost, a Pamphlet was printed entitled "Notes on High Frequency Hearing
Loss". This pamphlet explained the difficulties encountered with this type of hearing loss and
suggestions were given to help overcome them. The booklet is meant for teachers, speech therapists
and other personnel who have contact with these children. It has been highly successful and soon
after publication a thousand copies had been distributed and another thousand had to be re-printed.
Educational Placement of Deaf and Partially-Hearing Children
Difficulty in placement continues. The number of places for children under 5 is extremely limited
and many children have to wait a long time for admission. There is no nursery for the partiallyhearing
and there are serious deficiencies in the pre-school training programme. There is also
great difficulty in placing children in special classes for the partially hearing. Two new classes
for partially hearing children are being established in the Borough of Brent and / hope this will
relieve the pressure on the partial hearing units at Tottenham.
Hearing Aids
Considerable improvement can be reported in the range of hearing aids distributed by the National
Health Service. The small post-aural aid is now available and all children who needed one were
issued with it. There is also a more powerful body-worn aid available and this meant that we did
not have to ask the local authority for such large funds to provide commercial hearing aids as we
have had to do in the past. It will be only in an exceptional case that a commercial aid will be
required for our children in future.
Waiting List for the Clinic
Improvement has occurred as regards our waiting list and all children who need urgent examination
can be examined within a reasonable time. Attendances at the sessions are quite good and the
average number seen is 6 or 7. On the average each child needs about half an hour for examination
including discussion with parents and advice to them. Children are examined in the presence of
the whole team. Otologist, Medical Officer and Teacher of the deaf and, when placement for special
education is being considered, the Headmaster of the school. The Educational Psychologist is also
frequently present and on special occasions a Psychiatrist attends for special discussion".