London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Walthamstow 1948
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Walthamstow]
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The referral sources were as follows:—
| Source. | No. | Percentage. |
|---|---|---|
| Head Teachers | 131 | 65.0 |
| S.M.O | 54 | 25.5 |
| Speech Clinics | 7 | 3.5 |
| Parents | 6 | 3.0 |
| Other | 4 | 2.0 |
| Court | 2 | 1.0 |
| 204 | 100.0 |
Altogether 43 children were referred for "backwardness" alone. Their I.Q. distribution is shown as:—
| I.Q. | No. | Percentage. |
|---|---|---|
| 114 plus | 5 | 12 |
| 71—113 | 24 | 55 |
| 70 and below | 14 | . 33 |
| 43 | 100 |
Thus only one out of three referred because of backwardness
was actually very dull and more likely to do better at an E.S.N,
school. Some of these children were already working fully up to
the level to be expected from their mental age.
The most serious problems of retardation concerned reading.
Twenty children, all boys, were referred because they were poor
readers. Their I.Q.'s are shown below:—
| I.Q. | No. | Percentage. |
|---|---|---|
| 116 plus | 2 | 10 |
| 86—115 | 12 | 60 |
| 65—85 | 6 | 30 |
| 20 | 100 |
The average retardation, judged by their mechanical Reading
Age compared to their Mental Age was 5.4 years. Thus 10% of the
children who were individually tested by the Psychologist are
retarded by at least five years on the average. This makes it quite
clear that Reading Retardation is a most serious problem at all
the types of schools, i.e. Infant, Junior and Secondary.