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The Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970, requires the education of autistic and
dyslectic children, neither of which are amongst the categories of handicaps listed in the
1959 regulations.
Under the Education (Handicapped Children) Act 1970, local Education Authorities, are required
to make provision to bring within the education system all those children who were previously
considered unsuitable for education in school. No child within the age limit for education
therefore is outside the scope of the educational system.
Children who have one or more handicaps may require special educational treatment if they
cannot be educated satisfactorily in an ordinary school. The majority, however, do not require
to attend a special school since suitable arrangements can be made for them to receive
appropriate education in ordinary schools. Table XII in the Appendix to this report gives full
details.
EMPLOYMENT MEDICAL ADVISORY SERVICE
Under the Employnent Medical Service Act 1972 a new Employrrent Medical Advisory Service
is being set up under the Department of Employment. It is expected to come into operation
early next year. One of the tasks of the new service will be to provide medical supervision where
necessary for young people entering employment. This will replace the medical examination under
the Factories Act of young people entering factory employment and will concentrate on those
young persons in need of medical advice.
The appointed factory doctors will be replaced by a much smaller number of doctors (to be
known as Employment Medical Advisers). These E.M.A's will have a wider range of duties and
more expertise in occupational health matters. The Department of Employment medical advisors
will be the nucleus of the new service, they will also take on the medical supervision of persons
undergoing training and rehabilitation at Government Training Centres and Industrial
Rehabilitation Units. The E.M.A's will accordingly provide a focus for all medical activities
within the Department of Employment and will create a corps of experts in the field of
occupational medicine to whom anyone needing advice on any aspects of this branch of medicine
can turn.
The new service will provide for links between the school medical officer, careers officers and
employment medical advisor. Under the new service the School Health Service will be
responsible for identifying those pupils who have some departure from normal health which
might affect their choice of employment. Careers officers will play an important part in
ensuring that young people in need of medical advice for employment purposes obtain it from
the employment medical advisor.
SPECIAL SCHOOLS
Carew Manor E.S.N. School
This special school is a day school for 140 educationally sub-normal boys and girls aged from 7 to
16 years. The average number of pupils attending in 1972 was 137.
Before a child is admitted to this or any other school for educationally sub-normal children, a
fu|l medical examination is carried out and reports are obtained from an educational psychologist
and if necessary from a psychiatrist. Every child attending the school has a physical examination
annually and is psychologically assessed every 2 years or at the request of the head teacher or the
parent. In addition to regular weekly sessions at the school by the Senior Medical Officer and
educational psychologist, two physiotherapy sessions are held each week and two sessions devoted
to speech therapy. The teacher for the deaf also visits regularly.
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