Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Willesden]
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of the other children, it follows that generally they would
require to be notified to the Middlesex County Council,
under Section 2 (2) of the Mental Deficiency Act, 1913.
Paragraph 8 of Circular 829, herewith enclosed, however,
suggests that the Education Committee should furnish
the Middlesex County Council with information as to
children under or over the age of seven years who appear
to belong to the class of moral imbecile.
Dull. Backward—i.e., a child who does not belong to any
of the preceding classes, but is incapable by reason
of delay in the development of its mental faculties
of competing on equal terms with its normal fellows
of corresponding age. It should be noted that
backwardness in some instances may be due to
lack of opportunity of obtaining education.
This condition is one of degree as compared with the
educable feeble-minded, and these children will require to
be examined by the same tests as those to be applied to the
latter class.
Epileptic—i.e., a child who suffers from epilepsy. A child
suffering from epilepsy may be unfit to attend an
ordinary school on account of the severity or frequency
of the attacks giving rise to—
(a) Serious danger to itself;
(b) Serious danger to other children;
(c) Serious disturbance to the work of the
school;
(d) Serious retardatiton in the educational progress
of the child.
At the present time there is no compulsion upon any
Authority to educate epileptic children, and special difficulties
arise in connection with educating these children, on
account of the occurrence of fits, the special care and