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31
Backwardness in Reading
One of the main problems occurring in every school is that of
backwardness in reading. Leaving the bright and the dull
children out of account, there still remain 63 children of average
intellectual ability of whom 46 are retarded, more or less seriously,
in reading. The proportion of boys amongst this backward group
is much higher than of girls, i.e. 9 girls to 37 boys. The
Psychologist is attempting, in a variety of ways, to assist the teachers
to meet this problem, first by the assessment of the child's innate
ability and degree of retardation in reading; Secondly by the
investigation of the difficulties of individual children and their
grouping for purposes of remedial teaching; and thirdly, by supplying
information on remedial teaching to the teachers who must
tackle it.
(vii) Speech Therapy.—Miss C. M. Gregory reports as
follows:—
At the beginning of the year the numbers of children in need
of speech treatment were increasing steadily ; the waiting list had
grown to such a length some children would not have received
attention for eighteen months to two years. Just about this time
(July, 1947) another speech therapist was appointed. This appointment
halved the amount of work to do, and eased the overcrowding
in the classes, reducing them to more manageable numbers.
Four students from the West End Hospital for Nervous
Diseases attend here two days a week. They are competent in
dealing with minor cases such as lisps, which fact enables me to
run two classes concurrently on these days.
Four days a week a bus is used for transport of infant and
younger junior children with great success.
Miss V. Babbington, who was appointed as additional Speech
Therapist in July, 1947, has contributed the following report:—
The number of cases treated are divided almost equally between
stammerers and dyslalics, and in both it is interesting to note the
greater percentage to be among boys. This upholds the generally
accepted view that speech defects and disorders are more prevalent
among boys than among girls.
Treatment, for the most part, is individual; the students working
in the clinic have made this easier.