The Home Teaching of Defectives
- Author:
Anne A. Anderson,
Organiser of Centres and Home Training, Central Association for Mental Welfare
There are a great number of defectives up and down the country for whom institution care is not necessary but who can, if they are given the right sort of occupation which will interest them and brighten their lives, live in the community without any detriment to themselves or to others. For some of these defectives, attendance at an Occupation Centre is the best solution, but many live in districts where no Centre is accessible, or they have some physical disability which prevents their taking the daily journey to and from the Centre. In such cases, the ” suitable training or occupation ” which under the Mental Deficiency (Amending) Act of 1927 it is incumbent on Local Authorities to provide, can be given by means of a Home Teaching scheme, and it is thought that some account of such a scheme as worked in the Middlesex area, may be of interest and value to readers of ” Mental Welfare.” The Scheme has been in operation since June, 1929, and there has thus been time in which to gain considerable practical experience of its possibilities and to assess its concrete results.
A beginning was made by the appointment of an uncertificated teacher who had attended the C.A.M.W. Short Courses and who had, in addition to teaching experience on the staff of an Institution for defectives, also 34 MENTAL WELFARE experience of social work in the East End of London. She visited a number of cases, notified by the Medical Officer of the County Mental Deficiency Committee, who were living in their own homes and unable to attend an Occupation Centre. The grade of defect for teaching purposes, home conditions, and the facilities for giving home teaching, were carefully noted in each case.
It was found that the cases could be roughly classified into three groups ?the higher grade paralytic adolescent and younger child, who because of its paralysed condition had never attended any school and never had any opportunities for training; the low grade feeble-minded boy or girl whose parents could look after them as far as physical care was concerned, but again who had never had any specialised training; and the low grade older man or woman, living with elderly parents or married brothers and sisters, useful to a certain extent in the home, but entirely without any interest or occupation beyond a few routine jobs in the house.
The Home Teacher was not made welcome by any means at the first visit and as a matter of fact, many visits had to be paid to some homes before she could even get permission to start teaching or rather to occupy the defective. The usual excuse was It is no use trying, because he or she has never done anything; could not learn at school; would not pay any attention; hates sewing,” and so on, and so on. When excuses on behalf of the defective had failed, there were others regarding the home. ” No room, only the kitchen; you would have to sit in the bedroom,” etc. However, all the objections were met with the same answer, the teacher was quite prepared to teach anywhere, and under any conditions, if only she might have a trial. And so the work was begun.
At the first visit, the defective was by no means interested, or even at the second or third. We have had instances where three or four, perhaps even more, periods of lessons have been spent when the defective has only condescended to take the apparatus out of the teacher’s attache case and put it back again. There have been occasions when her pupil has walked out and refused to come in at all! One young lady was taught knitting. At first, whenever there was a little difficulty like a dropped stitch, she tore the thing up and put it in the dustbin. But steady perseverance has sooner or later produced the desired result, namely, an interest in what the teacher had brought with her, and then an urge to try and do something with it.
By degrees, and obviously because the defective talked about and looked forward to the next visit, the family, particularly the mother, began to stand by during the lesson, to tell the teacher what Tommy and Mary had said in the interval between the visits, and finally to ask to be shown how certain things were done, so that they could carry on in the interval. The families generally have shown a remarkable response and even in busy households, the mother, and in many cases the father, have undertaken to give half an hour and perhaps even an hour a day, to carrying out the instructions left by the Home Teacher.
In this co-operation of the father and mother has lain the whole success of the scheme. It has been impossible?even with a staff of six teachers? for more than a fortnightly visit to be paid to each case or for more than an hour’s lesson, and without any practice or work done in the interval, this amount of time would be too inadequate to produce results. The duration of the lesson must depend on the condition of the defective at the time of a visit. If it is found that an epileptic has either just had a fit or is going to have one, the lesson must be curtailed or probably abandoned for that day and the teacher goes on somewhere else. If conditions are favourable at the next stopping place, a longer lesson can be given and the time made up in this way. Each teacher sends out a card 48 hours before her visit, to say that she will be calling about a certain time on the specified date; this is to ensure that the defective is at home and that things are more or less prepared for the lesson. The majority of cases are visited once a fortnight. Those visited at less frequent intervals are either low grade imbeciles who are incapable of doing anything beyond knitting dish-cloths or something of that nature, but who welcome the visit of the teacher, or high grade cases who can carry on without a lesson until a job is finished, provided materials are supplied for them. Naturally, an effort is made to give the younger and more trainable cases the benefit of the fortnightly visit, but as they become more proficient in their work and able to carry on with less supervision, the frequency of the visits can be diminished. All the materials for the handwork are supplied by the teacher, and as far as possible are bought wholesale. She carries a certain amount with her, and if anything is needed between her visits, it is posted on to the home.
In outlying areas, the experiment of grouping two or three cases for the lesson has been tried, with a certain amount of success. It is, however, not always easy to group cases in their own homes, for obvious reasons, but in some areas it might be possible for a voluntary worker with a car to bring two or three to a given place?perhaps a small mission or classroom? where the lesson could be given. It has been possible to get some voluntary workers interested in the work, and where a voluntary worker is available, lessons can be given more frequently.
In addition to the actual handwork taught, instruction is given in sense training, remedial exercises, balancing movements, etc., and two or three higher grade cases of paralysed and epileptic younger defectives have benefited by simple reading, writing and number lessons. Except in cases of young children, handwork is always left behind to carry on with, and the parents are now very willing to co-operate in supervising this interim work. Home Teaching is inevitably carried on often under great difficulties.
Reference has been made above to the initial opposition frequently met with on the part of the parents or other members of the family?an opposition due not to lack of interest in the defective, but to the fact that in many instances, both school and home have hitherto failed to teach him anything useful, and everyone has therefore grown accustomed to the idea that any further attempt to do so is waste of time. Then a number of the cases live in congested homes. Lessons may have to be given in crowded little kitchens with small children playing about, and perhaps with the mother engaged in cooking the family dinner?or again, the teacher may be relegated to a stuffy and not always sanitary bedroom. The fender, top of the gramophone, or the bed, may have to do duty for a table. At first, the personal condition of the defective is often uncleanly?hair uncared for, nails dirty, and appearance generally unkempt. But by tactful management, the Home Teacher is generally able, by degrees, to give her pupil an appreciation of nicely kept hair and hands, and this new appreciation of cleanliness will permeate the whole family. It is found, after a few visits, that both defective and mother are tided up for the lesson, that a table is cleared and dusted ready for the handwork, and perhaps even a fire is lighted in the bedroom to make more comfortable conditions for the teacher.
All the 200 cases now on the books of the Middlesex Home Teachers are under Statutory Supervision. They vary in age from 7 to 54 years. A few of them have been in Special Schools and then excluded as ” ineducable,” but the majority have never been to school at all.
There are some defectives who have never done anything with their hands, but who after a period of home teaching, are now working slowly but steadily with only a minimum amount of guidance, and selling what they have made to neighbours and friends. The Home Teacher supplies the materials, for which they pay, and the small percentage added to the cost of the finished article is given to the defective for pocket money. There is little difficulty in disposing of the work, for though it may not be up to a finished standard, the relations are always very proud of it and willing to buy it. A small shop in one district offered to take work that was unsold and to sell it without any profit on the transaction, as the shopkeeper happened to be a relation of one of the defectives and was very impressed that he had been taught anything.
Travelling takes up a great deal of time and as the Home Teacher is not welcomed much before ten o’clock in the morning, must finish before midday when other members of the family are coming in to a meal, and cannot go on teaching again much after tea-time, the day is a short one. It has been found that the limit is four cases a day for one teacher, but where distances are very great, it is only possible to do three cases, unless they can be grouped together as previously suggested. Four days a week are given to visiting and one day is spent by each teacher in preparing work, writing reports, shopping, etc.
In the Middlesex area, the six Home Teachers employed cover the whole county. This does not mean, however, that every defective capable of benefiting by home teaching is actually receiving it?economy restrictions curtail the work considerably?but each area has a teacher visiting at least once a fortnight and an effort is made to give as many lessons as possible.
Apart from the actual teaching and production of work, the visiting of the Home Teacher has had a very marked effect on the family’s attitude towards the defective. His status in the family and even in the neighbourhood has been raised because he has a ” private governess ” coming to him. Neighbours will stop a defective in the street and enquire about the teacher and the progress being made, and they are called in to admire any finished piece of work. All this enhances the defective’s self-respect and makes the parents less conscious of his limitations. They realise that these children are capable of being taught and that someone is taking a special interest in them. Roth parents and defectives also develop a marked interest in handwork, as such. One mother was very excited and the defective very anxious to tell the teacher that they had seen a rug-making demonstration at an Exhibition, similar to rugs they were making at home under her tuition, and the mother remarked with a certain amount of pride: ” We told the lady at the stall that we made them at home.”
A further interesting result of a period of Home Teaching, has been that in quite a number of instances in which the parent had previously refused to allow the child to attend the local Occupation Centre, such opposition has eventually been entirely withdrawn and the necessary permission has been gladly given. Scepticism as to the value of training has thus been turned into an eager acceptance of further opportunities offered.
One of the most important factors in the success of this work is the personality of the Home Teacher herself. She does not need academic qualifications so much as previous experience of training defectives in an Institution or Occupation Centre. This is essential. In addition, she should be a woman with initiative, enthusiasm for the work, a good knowledge of handicrafts, and an unfailing optimism, and she should be of a bright disposition so that she can carry brightness into the homes she visits. Experience of social work is an asset which enables her to enter into the home life not only of the defective but of the whole family, and to make an intelligent study of the conditions she finds.
The Middlesex Home Teachers are paid a salary of ?160 to begin widi. In addition, there is the cost of travelling, postage and materials (less proceeds of sales): the total cost of the scheme, per defective, amounts to approximately ?6 4s. per annum. (This is exclusive of office rent, etc., as the work is carried on for the Middlesex County Council, with the organisation of Occupation Centres in the same area, from the offices of the Central Association for Mental Welfare.)
That this method of providing training and occupation for defectives living at home is an economical one cannot be denied, but it should be pointed out that it is not merely in its economy that the value of such a scheme lies, but in its awakening of interest in the problem as a whole. The tactful Home Teacher is not only teaching the defective, but is helping his family to understand something of the problem he presents. In her close connection with the parents and relations during her visits, many confidences are given which no ordinary visitor would ever elicit; and she may gain a great deal of information as to the cause of defect, early and family history and other side-lights invaluable both to the teacher planning her work in this special case, and to the work as a whole. Records of such information are carefully kept and these may prove to be of real value in any scheme for research work which may later be undertaken.
An interesting discovery frequently made, is the existence of some remediable physical defect or disability impeding the defective’s progress for which hitherto no attempt has been made to obtain treatment. In a number of cases the disclosure of such conditions has resulted in arrangement for attention at, e.g., an Orthopaedic or Eye Hospital, with eminently satisfactory results. Yet, had it not been for the repeated opportunities of close observation and the intimate relationship established with the family, needs of this type would have gone undetected.
Experience has thus shown that Home Teaching is an essential and valuable part of any effective scheme organised for the supervision of defectives living in their own homes. In its last Annual Report (1934), the Board of Control urges its introduction as part of the routine system of Statutory Supervision, and suggests that Supervising Officers should be appointed ” with some knowledge of training methods and handwork, and arrangements made to provide materials and to dispose of finished articles ; home teachers then become part of the supervising staff and overlapping of home visiting and unnecessary expense in travelling can be avoided.” This method of arranging the work can be quite a practicable one and is actually in operation in Suffolk, Wiltshire and Kent, but we would emphasise the importance of special training being given to the Supervisor who is to add Home Teaching to her duties, if possible by arrangement for her attendance at a Short Course. It is also essential that she be allowed time in which to plan out her work, prepare materials, etc.
This account of the Middlesex scheme of Home Teaching is offered in the hope that it may be of interest in areas where nothing of the kind has yet been attempted. It has not been possible to go into exhaustive detail as to the type of handwork taught, methods of adaptation to the needs of different grades of defect, cost of materials, etc., but further particulars will be gladly supplied on application to the writer at the C.A.M.W. Offices, 24, Buckingham Palace Road, London, S.W.i.
In conclusion, the following specimen cases are given to illustrate the application of some of the general statements made above, and to show that the possibilities of a Home Training Scheme have not been exaggerated.
Boy of 11. Mongolian. Middle class parents, mother young and intelligent, but very conscious of the boy’s condition and defect and very anxious to hide it from the world. Child was very eagerly looked forward to and it was a great disappointment to both the parents. The mother was so sensitive that she would never even take the child out or go away for holidays and he had been treated like a baby in every way. The boy was clean in habits and his speech was almost normal, but his hands were quite useless. The mother was very willing to have him taught, but particularly keen on reading and writing, and she volunteered to give him an hour if the teacher could show her exactly how to carry on. He has now been having lessons of an hour’s duration from the teacher every fortnight and an hour daily from .his mother. He can read and understand a simple primer, spell three-lettered words and do simple addition sums up to 12. Writing has been very difficult for him but he is gaining more control over the minor muscles through handwork and he is able to make a very presentable raffia bag, to knit dish-cloths and teacosies, to make cane shopping bags. His mother states now with pride that he can dress and undress himself and do simple tasks in the home. She has so far overcome her sensitiveness as to take him out shopping, as he is much more interested in things around him and looks so much brighter. She is almost proud now to show what the boy can do, instead of hiding him away. Both parents are astounded and very gratified at his improvement, as they had been led to believe that he was hopeless.
Woman. Aged 35 years. Morose and very sullen. Spent all her time sitting in a chair without any sort of occupation. Seldom spoke and at times was difficult to control. She had never been to school. During the first visit she stood in the corner and scowled. The mother was not anxious for any training. She said the girl was quite unteachable, but after a time she consented to the teacher trying. She began to show interest when pretty colours were shown and a simple piece of stitchery completed. Later, knitting was introduced and also raffia work. Now the girl is very keen, shows everyone her work and will meet the teacher in the road and make remarks about this work, telling the teacher what she has done. The family have become interested also and instead of letting her sit on the chair all day she is encouraged to go on with her work and take a pride in it. She is now making little gifts for friends and her whole attitude is changed.
Girl. Aged 16. Imbecile, suffering from spastic paralysis, affecting one side, and severe epilepsy. Restless and difficult, and when first visited, mother said they had been unable to get her to settle to any occupation, although the sister was an elementary school teacher and had tried her best. Despite the frequency of fits, the defective’s interest in simple forms of handwork, sense training, etc., was gradually aroused by the Home Teacher, and the restlessness became much less marked. Unfortunately, owing to the intervention of a serious illness, there is now a marked physical and mental deterioration, but the lessons continue to bring happiness, and the child is still able to produce small articles of handwork. Boy. Aged 17. Low grade imbecile in poor, overcrowded home.
Attended Occupation Centre for some months, but was ultimately excluded owing to the development of anti-social tendencies expressing themselves in attacks on other children. He appeared to be untrainable. Home Teaching was then tried, with unexpected success. The destructive, excitable moods have grown less and less frequent, and though he is incapable of any creditable handwork, he responds to lessons in simple physical exercises, speech training, sense training, etc., and his interest can be aroused and sustained. The mother is delighted at the improvement shown.
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