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only escorted to bed and left, not getting to sleep for some time
after going to bed.
3 weeks later my note was—quite alright now, sleeps well
at night.
Shortly after this she was taken to the Isolation Hospital
with Scarlet Fever, and was quite well till she came home again
into the mother's influence, but soon pulled up again after two
interviews.
Problem cases and difficult children give rise to considerable
anxiety as to what is the best thing to do.
One case for example, a particularly beautiful child who could
do nothing at school. Her mental examination revealed almost
complete absence of memory, she would, for instance, when told
to undress and get into bed, take off her knicker bockers and get,
into bed with everything else on. She appeared to be a borderline
case. Later examinations revealed evidence' of storage of
memories which the parents were quite unable to obtain.
I was fortunately able to get her into a London Hospital for
observation, under the care of a Physican who makes a special
study of this class of case.
The Physicians' report was "she seems particularly alert and
bright, as well advanced intellectually as other children of her age.
On the other hand she is shy and peculiar in several respects,
but all this I should attribute to neurotic trouble. The mother
and to a less extent the father, seem to be provocative causes here."
At her first examination, I found her about years retarded.
On going into the history in the light of the parental effect, I
found that the elder sister was in an Institution for Mental
Defectives, and that the father, with this constantly in mind, had been
extra strict with this child, and his efforts had to a large extent
been backed up by the mother. Unavailing efforts were made to
get the child away from the parents for a time. Home conditions
are altered as the result of the parental understanding of the
situation with a corresponding improvement in the child.
In the case of a boy from an excellent home who is heading
direct for Borstal, the same Physician reports:—