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13.—BLIND, DEAF, DEFECTIVE and EPILEPTIC CHILDREN.
A register is kept of all defective children in the district, and
every effort is made to keep this register as full and accurate as
possible. It is based very largely on the results of the routine and
special medical inspections, but for such of the children as do not
attend school, we are indebted to the assistance of the School
Attendance Officers, School Nurses, Health Visitors and others.
All defective children are kept under regular supervision and seen
by the School Medical Officer at regular intervals. When the defect
is such that a special school is indicated, steps are taken to secure
this provision where at all possible.
(a) Blind.
There is one child from Wood Green at the School for the Blind
at Swiss Cottage. Five others whose eyesight is so bad as to make
it difficult for them to profit by the ordinary form of instruction
given in an elementary school, are in attendance at the Myopic
Centre in Lordship Lane. The commonest defect found in these
children is a high degree of myopia, which while quite sufficient to
prevent them from profiting by the ordinary methods of instruction
in an elementary school, does not prevent them from receiving
instruction in a special school. The children are under the regular
supervision of the School Ophthalmic Surgeon, and the school is
visited at regular intervals by the School Medical Officer. The
children as a rule do well, and some of them improve sufficiently
to be able to return to ordinary schools.
The school provides accommodation for children from Finchley,
Hornsey, Tottenham, Enfield and Middlesex County as well as
from Wood Green. The number on the roll at the end of the year
was 37 . Of these five belonged to Wood Green, fifteen to Tottenham,
seven to Hornsey, six to Enfield, two to Middlesex and one to
Finchley. A mid-day meal is available at the school for those
children who are unable to go home at mid-day.
(b) Deaf.
There are six children on the register who are so deaf as not to
be able to profit by instruction in an ordinary elementary school.
These attend the Tottenham Special School for the Deaf, under
arrangements made between the Wood Green and Tottenham
Authorities.
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