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HANDICAPPED PUPILS
It is the duty of the local authority to ascertain those children in its
area who, having attained the age of two years, may require special educational
treatment. These children usually come to the attention of the School Health
Service through the Health Visitors, the Chief Education Officer, Parents and
Hospitals.
The officially recognised types of handicaps ares- Blind, Partially Sighted,
Deaf, Partially Hearing, Physically Handicapped, Delicate, Maladjusted, Educationally
Sub-Normal, Epileptic and Speech Defects.
Once a child has been ascertained as handicapped surveillance is maintained
and recommendations for special educational treatment are forwarded to the Chief
Education Officer for his consideration and action. Special appointments are
arranged for the Medical Officer to see these children, either at a Clinic or at
the child's home, depending usually on the degree or type of handicap. Before a
recommendation is made the advice of the various appropriate Hospital Consultants,
with whom there is a very close liaison, is sought.
During the year 81 boys and 27 girls were assessed as needing special
educational treatment at special schools. Details of the various handicaps are
included in the following table.
The Borough is fortunate in possessing three day schools for educationally
sub-normal pupils, and a report on each of these schools will be found later in
this Report.
The field of handicap is a very wide onej for instance, a large range of
different conditions is included under the heading of "Physically Handicapped" and
similarly "Delicate" can cover quite a number of different conditions.
Obtaining the best possible arrangements for the education of the handicapped
child requires time and pationce, but the effort involved is fully justified by
the results obtained. It should be stressed that the assessment of a handicapped
child does not consist merely in appraising the defects. The assets - what the
child can do, the total environment etc., must not be forgotten. Further, there
is a new approach to this often purely clinical examination,namely an attempt to
see the child in the home and school environment because a handicap or defect can have
a different meaning to a Doctor, a Parent or a Child.
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