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97
in a modified way to the whole County. Under the new arrangement, this Area
is grouped with Area 4 (Finchley and Hendon) and will share the services of an
audiometrician and also equipment. Miss L. Harper, who carried out the
initial survey in this Area, resigned in July, 1953, and was replaced by Mrs.
E.M. Perry in September, 1953. Since the 1st December, 1953, Mrs. Perry has
been working in Area 4, and while it is intended that her time will be shared
equally between the two Areas, for the sake of convenience she will generally
work for a fairly long continuous period in each Area,
Tottenham Day Special School for the Deaf
The work of the School for the Deaf which had accommodation for 80 children
has been augmented by the establishment of a nursery class for 20 children
under the age of five years. This nursery class was officially opened at
the end of last year. The age range is now from three to sixteen years and
the catchment from a wide area of Middlesex plus a few children by arrangement
with neighbouring Counties. Children living at a distance from the
School are provided with motor transport and a number of the senior children
travel independently by public transport,
A waiting list of Middlesex children is kept for children awaiting
admission to the School, and before names are added to the list there is full
consultation on the medical and educational aspects between the staffs of the
two departments. The teaching of the school is by oral method, i.e. the aim
is to produce speech as opposed to communication by the manual method. Each
year one or more pupils enter the entrance exanination for Mary Hare Grammar
School for Deaf Children at Newbury,
As in previous years I would again stress the importance of separating,
as far as possible, the partially deaf from the totally deaf, the fomer at
present being in the minority at the School The question of establishing a
class for the partially deaf in an ordinary school is mentioned earlier in
this report.
Audiology Unit
To improve further the service for the treatment of children totally or
partially deaf, the Committee has recommended, and the County Health Committee
has approved in principle, a proposal to establish an Audiology Unit which
will be concerned with the speech training of infants under two years of age,
in co-operation with their parents
Although the Education Committee provides special educational treatment
for deaf and partially deaf children from the age of two years, early diagnosis
and parental co operation in speech training of even younger children
are essential to obtaining the best results.