Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Walthamstow]
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treatment—for one thing they are excessively expensive. But a
special school for the physically handicapped, such as exists in the
Borough at Hale End, is able to make a very real contribution to the
problem. In such a school physiotherapy, remedial exercises and
speech therapy are available actually in the school building; so that
the pupils may use them with the minimum disturbance to their
learning.
The consultative clinic is already being used as a diagnostic centre for suspected spastic children; it would not take much to equip Hale End as a completely adequate treatment centre.
Under 5 years. | Over 5 years | |
---|---|---|
New cases | 104 | 27 |
Total attendances | 143 | 39 |
No. of cases | 48 | 24 |
Referred to hospital | 24 | 6 |
Discharged | 27 | 4 |
(a) Enuresis | 52 | 3 |
(b) Other | 4 | — |
Referred to hospital | 46 | — |
Discharged | 2 | 3 |
(h) Speech Therapy.—Treatment centres are provided at the
Old Education Offices, High Street, and at the Open-Air School.
The arrangements of previous years have continued in regard
to the selection and reference of children for speech therapy. Cases
are brought forward as a result of medical inspection and re-inspection
and by reference through head teachers. In order to exclude
any medical condition and in order to assess the degree of the speech
defect to negative the possibility of deafness, partial deafness, or of
a psychological cause of the defect, a full medical report is recorded
on the case papers sent to the Speech Therapist. The School
Medical Officers are invited to follow up their cases during the
course of treatment and arrangements have been made for a review
of the case, preferably by the School Medical Officer who referred
the case, and before discharge from treatment.
Miss C. M. Gregory reports as follows:—
There were 144 children treated during 1953, practically the
same number as in the previous year. The intake accent is still on
the infant and pre-school age—of 52 new cases this year, only
seven children were over 6 years of age and none were over eleven.