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102
oth. Crippled Children.— It will be seen that there are a
•number of children crippled, due to various causes, who are attending
school. Crippling varies from a slight degree of lameness
to cases in which special chairs have had to be arranged
in the class-rooms to accommodate the children concerned.
6th. Heart Disease.— There are 22 children attending
school who are suffering from such a degree of cardiac disease
that it has been necessary to notify the Head Teacher that special
care should be given to such children, and in many cases that they
should be excluded from physical drill.
(b) Mentally Defective Children.-
(a) Dull or Backward Children.— It will be seen from Table
III. that there are 202 children who are two years behind in their
education at school, and 57 who are retarded three years. These
figures have been obtained from the Head Teachers of the various
schools, and the children have not been specifically examined for
that purpose.
Their backwardness may be due to many causes, such as loss
of education through commencing school at a later age than
usual, frequent absence (from, school owing to ill-health, and
frequent changes in the schools attended. It must not, therefore,
be thought that all of these children can be considered to be
abnormal.
(b) Idiots.— Idiots are, within the meaning of the Mental
Deficiency Act, 1913, persons so defective in mind from an early
age, as to be unable to guard themselves against common physical
dangers. The Authority tor dealing with such children is the
Essex County Council. There are five cases known to this department,
two being notified during the present year.
(c) Imbeciles.— Imbeciles are persons whose mental defectiveness
does not amount to idiocy, yet is so pronounced that
they are incapable of managing themselves or their affairs; or in
the case of children, of being taught to do so. The Authority
responsible for dealing with these children is also the Essex
County Council. There are nine such children known to this
department.