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85
Surveys and Research
In 1958, all children in England, Scotland and Wales, born in the
week 3rd to 9th March, were the subject of a questionnaire devised by
the National Birthday Trust. In 1964 the opportunity arose to study the
same children again and the National Child Development Study, supported
by Government Funds, was set up for this purpose. 90% of the original
group were traced and information obtained on their progress and present
condition from schools, parents, and medical officers who carried out a
full medical examination. Much important information flowed out of this
assessment. For example, it was discovered that three children in every
thousand had a degree of hearing loss sufficient to warrant some form of
special educational treatment, and that squinting children, as a group,
had a lower educational performance, poorer social adjustment, and
poorer physical co-ordination than the rest of the sample.
Descriptive findings by no means exhaust the possibilities of this
study and as an example, it was found that children who were premature
either by gestational age or low birthweight are not only more likely to
have a handicap than full term infants, but are likely to fare less well
at school with learning and behaviour problems.
In March 1969, these children were eleven, and again all authorities
co-operated to assess their history and present social, educational, and
physical condition. Sixty children in the Redbridge area were examined
by local authority doctors, who received valuable help from speech
therapists and health visitors, and the conclusions reached by the
National Child Development Council on this group throughout the country
is awaited with great interest.