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209
Abnormal children may be classified as follows:—
A.Mentally Abnormal. 1. Idiot.
2. Imbecile.
3. Feeble-minded.
4. Moral Imbecile.
5. Dull or Backward.
6. Epileptic.
B. Physically Abnormal. 7. Physically Defective.
8. Blind.
9. Deaf.
Idiot—i.e., a child so deeply defective in mind from birth
or from an early age as to be unable to guard
itself against common physical dangers. [Mental
Deficiency Act, 1913. Section 1 (a).]
This class of child is ineducable, but the Education
Committee are required under Section 31 (1) of the Mental
Deficiency Act, 1913, to ascertain what children over the
age of seven years within their area are idiots, and under
Section 2 (2) to notify such children to the Middlesex County
Council.
Paragraph 8 of Circular 829, herewith enclosed, also
suggests that the Education Committee should furnish the
Middlesex County Council with information as to the children
under the age of seven years who appear to be idiots.
Imbecile—i.e., a child in whose case there exists from
birth or from an early age mental defectiveness not
amounting to idiocy, yet so pronounced that he is
incapable of being taught to manage himself or his
affairs. [Mental Deficiency Act, 1913. Section
1 (b).]
This class of child is ineducable, but the Education
Committee are required under Section 31 (1) of the Mental
Deficiency Act, 1913, to ascertain what children over the