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The children recommended for admission to the Unit are carefully selected in
conjunction with the Child Psychiatrist and the Head Teacher of the Unit.
Many maladjusted pupils require continued contact with their homes and
parents which can only be achieved by provision of day school places. The
Head Teacher of the Unit continues to have close contact with the parents
of pupils attending the Unit.
The number of new admissions to the Unit in 1970 were 22 (13).
(c) Autistic Unit at Queen Mary's Hospital School
In September 1970 a class for non-communicating to children aged under five years
was established at Queen Mary's Hospital School for supplement the two existing
classes. The class for children aged under five years is divided into two groups
with usually four children attending the group during the morning or afternoon.
The classes are staffed by a full-time teacher and a nurse from Queen Mary's
Hospital.
Children attending these classesmay either be resident in Queen Mary's Hospital,
attend daily from home in the borough and occasionally from other boroughs.
It is hoped that by the establishment of the class for very young children their
progress and prognosis will be greatly improved by earlier education by experienced
staff in their particular handicap. All the classes are attended regularly by a
speech therapist, psychologist, psychiatrist and teacher of the deaf. Each term
a conference is held attended by all concerned with the children in the classes
to discuss their progress and placement. Children are also admitted to the classes
for a diagnostic and assessment period. This has proved most helpful in deciding
a child's best future placement.
No. of children attending Unit 17 (9)
No. of children discharged 4 ( 2)
No. of children attending Unit who are:
(a) long-stay residents in Queen Mary's
Hospital 8 (10)
(b) from the community 9 ( 2)
No. of children transferred from Unit to
other classes for autistic children 2 ( 2)
During 1970 in addition 3 other children were given short diagnostic trials in
one of the classes and they were all found suitable for attendance at one of the
classes.
(d) Queen Mary's Hospital School
When a child is admitted to hospital it is essential to continue his or her education
as soon as he or she has sufficiently recovered from illness to do so. At Queen
Mary's Hospital School some of the pupils can attend classrooms but the majority
have individual tuition in bed. A number of children are in hospital for a short
time only but a significant percentage are in hospital for a period of months or
even years.
In addition to the head teacher there are 29 assistant teachers and the curriculum
at the school is as varied as in any other school. The total number of children on
the register at 31st December, 1970 was 145 (136).
(e) Belmont Hospital School
At Belmont Hospital there is a diagnostic unit basically for deaf children. The
children are referred from a very wide area in the South of England and the unit
specialises in the examination of children for deafness. Many of these children
are found to be not suffering from deafness but to be non-communicating
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