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89
Classification of Blind Persons
Children at School
Of the five children who are of school age, three girls and one
boy are mentally retarded and unable to benefit from education.
The remaining boy receives secondary education at Linden Lodge
School, Wimbledon. Two blind teenagers were still at school on
31st March, 1968; one boy was at Worcester College for the Blind
and one girl at Dorton House School, Seal, Kent.
Employed
On the 31st March, 1968, two male home workers were
employed as piano tuners and one blind female was employed at
home as a machine knitter. 37 men and 14 women were employed
in open industry, working with sighted colleagues and holding down
jobs which, in the main, require a high degree of skill. Examples
of their ability are illustrated by a blind physiotherapist who is
employed in a local hospital and a former bank manager who has
been retained by his bank to lecture on banking.
Unemployed
The majority (352) of the 429 unemployed blind persons were
over the age of 65. Of the remaining 77, 27 were housewives, 7
employable with or without training, 7 not available for employment,
15 mentally ill and 21 physically disabled.
Register of the Partially Sighted
After adjustments for new registrations, transfers, and deletions
from the register, there were 197 persons on the register as at 31st
March, 1968, a net increase of 13 on the previous year. There
was a reduction of the number of registered partially-sighted males
from 63 at 31st March 1967, to 57 at 31st March, 1968. In the
same period the partially-sighted females increased from 121 to 140.
The increase in the partially-sighted register will probably be
reflected in a corresponding increase of the blind register at a
later date.
Distribution in Age Groups (Partially-sighted)
Increases occurred in the age groups 5 to 15 (10 to 15), 16 to 20
(7 to 8), 21 to 49 ( 29 to 31), 50 to 64 (16 to 21) and there was
no change in the two extreme age groups 1 to 4 (2) and 65 and over
(120). It is interesting to note that the trend of the older age group
to increase was not maintained in the year under review. Nationally,
there were increases in the age groups 16 to 64 and 65 and over.
Classification of Partially-sighted Persons
At 31st March, 1968, there were 17 partially-sighted children
under the age of 15. Two were babies, one child was mentally