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WELFARE OF HANDICAPPED PERSONS OTHER THAN BLIND
Schemes for the welfare of handicapped persons other than blind and partially
sighted are operated by the County Council’s Welfare Department under
the National Assistance Act, 1948; these cover the deaf and dumb and hard of
hearing, and other persons who are substantially and permanently handicapped by
crippling diseases or congenital deformity.
Services to the deaf and dumb and the hard of hearing are provided by appropriate
voluntary organisations, to whom the County Council makes grants in aid.
The County Council’s Welfare Department has provided two Welfare Visitors
for persons in the Borough who are suffering from substantial and permanent
handicaps other than those already mentioned, and they work under the direction
of the Area Welfare Officer. They visit such persons in their own homes, with
a view to assisting them to obtain from statutory or voluntary sources (or both)
facilities, appliances, etc., which may benefit them. The help afforded, may,
for example, enable the disabled person to take part in social actitivies, choral
classes, dancing classes, attend handcraft classes, obtain a needed holiday, or
by provision of ramps for mechanical chairs, handrails, lifting hoists and the
like, give a previously non-existent measure of mobility to a person who was
chair-bound or house-bound. Advice and guidance regarding personal problems is
given, and membership of a voluntary organisation catering for a particular
handicap-is facilitated.
A Home Work Organiser has also been appointed and suitable handicapped
persons who cannot travel to work are provided with part-time employment at home.
Residents of the Borough needing any of the County Welfare Services briefly
referred to in this Report should apply to the Area Welfare Officer, Mr. J.F.
Cronk, at the Local County Offices, Great West Road, Brentford.
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