Combined Defect
Correspondence. To the Editor of ” Mental Welfare.” Dear Sir,
Dr A. Carleton Williams’ valuable article on ” Combined Defect ” in your last issue of ” Mental Welfare ” deals with a subject the importance of which is too little realised. The difficulty of deciding- the actual extent of the handicap under which children of combined defect are suffering-, and the consequent diffi- culty of providing- suitable and adequate instruction and training for such of the children as are believed to be educable, has led to the problem being almost wholly neglected by local authorities charged with the education of children. The problem affects many hundreds of children in this country, and because of its complexities, workers to whom the solution is possible, who are enthusiastic and successful in other branches of the work of national education, appear to have concluded that children of combined defect cannot be educated, or are not worth the effort and expenditure which the training would involve. They sympathise with the defec- tives, and would be glad to help if the way were clear, but the task is uncertain and its results obscure.
The fact that success has actually been achieved in the education of many children of various combined defects does not appear to have affected this conclu- sion, and with the exception of the London County Council and a few sympathetic voluntary workers greatly handicapped by lack of funds no educationists or ocal education authorities have taken practical steps in the educational interests of the children.
Large numbers of children have been medically certified as suffering from double or triple defects, and many have been admitted to institutions for the training of the Blind Deaf or Mentally Defective, only to be returned later to their homes as unsuitable’cases for such institutions. The unfortunate defectives con- tinue, therefore without any suitable instruction. Practically none is able to earn his own livelihood, and very many are a continuous burden on their relatives. Many local education authorities would be willing to make provision for the education of the children in their respective areas if the number of cases of the chief types of defect were sufficient to warrant the authorities in incurring on their own account expenditure necessary for the establishment of suitable institu- tions. A combination of large authorities as a joint committee for the work would overcome this difficulty, and the Board of Education have expressed their willing- ness to consider any proposals that might be put forward either by voluntary societies or by local education authorities for the provision of suitable schools. ^ is an encouraging and satisfactory result of the work done at the London County Council’s School at Penn that 57 per cent, of the children who have left that institution during the last five years are either in employment or are undergoing further training for special employment, and the majority of the remainder have greatly benefited in health, usefulness and self-reliance by the training they have received at the school.
The very valuable work of diagnosing the co-existence of two or more types ?f defect in a child, with which Dr Williams’ article is principally concerned, is the necessary preliminary to the consideration of the educability of the child and the kind of training suitable to his case to enable him to make the most of his life. May I venture to suggest that Dr Williams and his colleagues engaged in the work add to the value of their certification an expression of their views as to the educability of thr. cases, and communicate this to the local education authority for the area in which the children are found; adding to such public service, in any Way which seems to them most fitting, such representations to the local authorities concerned and to the Board of Education, as may lead to a practical issue in the mterests of the children and the community? It is essential that the need for the education of these children be more widely realised before the establishment of suitable institutions can be secured.
Yours faithfully, WALTER POPPLESTONE. Education Office, Saltaire Road, Shipley. 29th December, 1926.
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