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such children were admitted to day nurseries
during the year
Social Workers Report
I am grateful to Mrs J Harding B Sc (Soc) and
Mrs G Wisdom AIMSW social workers (special
duties) for the following report.
We now feel ourselves established in the
special schools and units as integral members
of the specialist team concerned with the
handicapped child We are more than satisfied
with the way our colleagues refer cases to us
and take our advice as social workers Work
is also easier now that we have an established
relationship with all the relevant social work
agencies in Hounslow and the other boroughs
covered by us This liaison with case workers
schools and organisations is an essential
part of our work and to this end between us
we have visited during the last year:St
Nicholas School Redhill Turners Court
School St Christopher s Working Boys Hostel
Leavesden Hospital the Wolfson Centre and
have attended various meetings of social
workers,teachers and social workers,school
leavers conferences,parent teacher association
conferences on the handicapped child and
his family. We have also read papers and given
lectures on our work.
On a practical level new referrals to us
have been of the same order as before Mrs
Wisdom has been working full time attached
to Marjorv Kinnon school and to the Medical
Advisory Unit and Ma-tindale School and has
had 106 new cases referred between Mav 1970
1971 and Mrs Harding returned from her
special lea^e in August 1970 is working part
time at the hearing clinic and Heston School
for the Deaf has had 45 new cases referred
Analysis of referrals 1970/71
Martindale and Medical Advisory
Unit 49
Marjory Kinnon School 53
Hearing Clinic 25
Heston School for the Deaf and
physically handicapped units 17
Analysis of referrals (contd.) 1970/71
General (Mrs Harding) 3
General (Mrs Wisdom) 4
Total 151
151 new cases compared with 122 last year
At present there is no social worker working
with Busch House School and so we have an
establishment of ½ social workers-our current
case load is high Mrs Wisdom has 158 cases
and Mrs Harding 101 and to give these cases
the attention they require we did 571 visits
last year between us Our case load of 259
for 1½ social workers must be compared with
the number of 180 on our files at the writing
of the last report.
The new cases referred fall into the same
broad categories as before viz new school
entrants contact with school and parents
help for depressed and unsupported mothers
of a handicapped child housing problems
arrangement of holidays matrimonial problems
liaison with immigrant mothers etc In fact
any problem caused bv or exacerbated by the
presence of a handicapped child in the family
We have both noticed recently that the social
problems seem to be more complex and we
have each found one particular tvpe of handi
capped child whose families are taking up an
increasing proportion of our time and thought
With Mrs Wisdom it is the families of spina
bifida children who were specificallv mentioned
in our last report and Mrs Harding is now
finding that the problem of the deaf/blind
children and their families need to be studied
in greater depth These unfortunate chiIdren
particularly although few in number (there
are 5 in Mrs Harding s caseload) need so
much help both at home and school that it
would be possible for a social worker to devote
all her time to helping the parent to adjust to
and cope with the child and liaising with the
numerous medical/educational and social work
agencies involved.
We find that earlv referral of children with
these complex handicaps is of assistance to
us in helping the familv come to terms with
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