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and we are aiming, eventually, at every child being able to play an instrument. Most of the progress
in this field springs from our new music teacher and our physiotherapist. Physiotherapy is developing
from straight treatment and holds the interest of the children with activities that may be described
as highly specialised physical education, games, music and movement. For instance, as part of
the very wide range offered, the cerebral palsy children now enjoy the incredible pleasure of unassisted
roller-skating, which was introduced last year. The more established activities connected
with physiotherapy still continue. For instance, one of our ex-pupils, Michael Karaphillides, won
the Junior Stoke Mandeville archery cup and represented England as a senior at the opening of
the new Stoke Mandeville swimming pool."
(I) Speech Defect
In residential schools 1
In normal school and receiving speech therapy 216
Pre-school children receiving speech therapy 16
96 children were ascertained in 1970.
Except for the one child at present placed in a residential school, all children attend a normal
school and visit a local school clinic for therapy. Occasionally, the speech therapist visits the school
for therapy usually where a number of these children are gathered in one unit, for example, in the
Special Class at Ruislip Gardens Infant and Junior Schools and in the special schools for educationally
subnormal children.
At the beginning of 1970 there was a Senior Speech Therapist with 2 full-time Speech
Therapists to give treatment to the children of the Borough. By the end of 1970, the service had
been reduced to 4 part-time speech therapists, clearly an unsatisfactory position. Great efforts are
being made to recruit more staff but the manpower problem here as with medical staff is a national
one and this Authority has to compete with the rest of the country for scarce skilled therapists.
(J) Delicate Pupils
In residential schools 27
In day special schools 3
Pre-school children in a day nursery 3
Pre-school children who are recommended for special school 3
Children recommended for home tuition 2
Children in normal schools with some variation of education 202
57 children were ascertained as delicate during 1970.
3 pre-school children were recommended for normal school with
variation of education.
This large group of handicapped pupils consists of various children who do not fit into any
of the previous categories. The problem presented by them is in the main that of attendance at
school and that which inevitably follows, the child's inability to maintain educational progress with
its peers. Absence is usually due to medical factors, for example, a child with asthma may need
several days to recover reasonable health after a severe attack; a child with fibrocystic disease
will be absent during inclement weather; the diabetic child may have episodes of hypoglycaemia
particularly if he is a young child and relatively unstable in his insulin requirements.
With these factors in mind, recommendations were made in 1969 for the provision of a day
school or classes for delicate children in response to a circular 20/68 issued by the Department
of Education and Science. It was considered that of the number of children currently on the
Handicapped Pupils' Register ascertained as delicate, 70 would benefit by special day school
provision. The Department of Education and Science, however, felt that such a proposal was
against the current national trend and therefore this project could not proceed. There is no doubt
that given a small special school with adequate teaching staff and medical supervision, many
children who have prolonged absence would be able to return to school quicker and in such a
favourable environment catch up with lost work and return to a normal school after an appropriate
interval. Among the medical conditions noted in this category are asthma, diabetes, rheumatic
fever and other heart diseases, bronchiectasis, haemophilia, Still's disease and bronchitis.
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