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119
Observations by Dr. M. L. Gilchrist on the Audiometrician's Report.
There are several comments that must be made on the Report
submitted by the Audiometrician, otherwise a false impression is
given of the position in Leyton following the survey made in 1950.
Her report was necessarily incomplete; and the follow-up
of the cases by the school medical staff since the Report was made
in September necessitates a new assessment of her findings.
Complete reports are available on 157 of the 166 cases originally
re-tested. Nine of the children had left school, or left the district,
or their parents preferred to have treatment elsewhere, and these
are not included in this survey.
Cases of Deafness Previously Undetected—10.
Ten cases can be said to have been discovered by the Audiometrician's
survey. They were not considered to be deaf, either
by the medical or school staff, their parents, or themselves.
One had a bilateral hearing loss of 30 decibels in each ear,
but as this was due to recurrent rhinitis and catarrh, it responded
quickly to treatment.
All other cases had unilateral defect only.
In 7 cases no treatment can help, and its doubtful what value
can be placed on the discovery of this unilateral deafness. Causes
of deafness in this group are:—
Meningitis 1
Trauma 1
Early Otosclerosis 1
Infectious Disease 1
Cause unkown 3
One case is still under investigation.
One case of acute otitis media, first attack during week of
original test, is now improved.