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The majority of children seen at the unit were referred by local authority medical officers following
a hearing loss discovered at routine Stykar testing or routine audiometry. Some children were referred by
paediatricians and a small number by general practioners.
Children requiring hearing-aids were referred to St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington, W.2 for the supply
and fitting of Medresco hearing-aids. Some children required special types of hearing-aid (e.g. post aural) that
were only available commercially. These hearing-aids were obtained for them by the responsible local authority
through the Neasden Unit at a special price.
Children fitted with hearing-aids were given auditory training by the peripatetic teacher of the deaf,
who was present with the child at the diagnostic and the follow up sessions at the unit.
Deaf or partially hearing children who needed special education were placed at residential schools
or at day schools at Heston and Tottenham. It is hoped to have a partially hearing unit within the new school
for physically handicapped pupils that is now under construction in the Borough.
SCHOOL DENTAL SERVICE
Report of Principal School Dental Officer
It is now fairly generally accepted that most children, once introduced to dentistry, tend to become
regular patients either of the Local Authority Dental Service or of general practitioners under the National
Health Services but the main trouble is that frequently by the time the first treatment is requested (often emergency
treatment) considerable damage has already been done to the primary teeth and even to the permanent
teeth. (See report of Chief Dental Officer page 9).
A very large majority of children leaving school have acquired the habit of receiving regular dental
attention from one source or another and only a very small number present neglected mouths. This however,
offers no grounds for complacency as the results of earlier neglect are all too apparent in the large number
of missing teeth and massive restorations. It is essential, therefore, that dental health education should be
directed intensively to expectant and nursing mothers and their co-operation enlisted in caring for their children's
teeth with professional assistance from the time when the child has teeth. If every child were to have
regular dental inspections and treatment from the age of two, the child would accept this as routine with great
benefit to himself and to his dentist and many would be able to go through life with healthy mouths. The fact
that children of tender age could not attend without a parent, would also be beneficial insofar that many
parents with previously neglected mouths might themselves be persuaded or even shamed into accepting dental
treatment.
Dental health education should also be directed at the 8-11 age group, where we have the highest incidence
of dental decay due mainly to two factors. One, the failure of the parents to see that they arrive at this age
with sound mouths. Two, the fact that the child can now purchase for himself sweets, ices, biscuits and other
substances harmful to the teeth and consume them at the wrong times (between meals) without supervision and
without adequate safeguards ; for example, mouth rinsing or tooth cleaning either with a brush or a soft cleansing
food such as an apple, carrot, celery, etc.
Details of attendances at school clinics and treatment given can be found in the statutory table in the
appendix.
CHILD GUIDANCE SERVICE
Prepared by Mr. C. Graham, B.SC., Chief Educational Psychologist.
Organisation of the Service.
The Service is divided into the School Psychological Service, and the Child Guidance Centres.
All referrals coming from the headteachers are seen first in the schools by one of the psychologists
under the aegis of the School Psychological Service. Headteachers are encouraged to refer all children falling
into the bottom 2% of an age range in educational attainment, so that remedies might be applied. Each psychologist
has the responsibility for referrals from particular schools. If the problem is one which warrants a
full Child Guidance psychiatric investigation, the child is referred to the Child Guidance Centre. As will be
seen from Table 6, of the 405 children seen in the School Psychological Service, 71 (18%) were referred to the
Child Guidance Centre.
Referrals coming from other sources, e.g. School Medical Officers and General Practitioners are dealt
with by the whole Child Guidance team. The Psychiatric Social Workers deal largely with the parents and
other social agencies, the Educational Psychologists deal with the educational and intellectual assessment of the
child and link up with the schools, and the Psychiatrists give a psychiatric diagnosis and link up with medical
colleagues.
The Kilburn Child Guidance Centre in Brondesbury Villas deals with referrals from Willesden, and
the Kingsbury Child Guidance Centre in Church Lane deals with referrals from Wembley. There has been no
change ill this arrangement since the formation of Brent in April 1965.