DEAFNESS IH CHILDREN

Research is going on under the Direction of Mr. Stuart Mawson, a member ofthe National Deaf Children's Society's Medical Research Committee into a particular form of deafness that mainly affects children. The children become deaf as a result of a gluey mucoid substance that forms in the middle ear and prevents the normal passage of sound from the ear­drum, across the middle ear to the nerves of hearing in the inner ear. No one yet knows where this material comes from - it could be produced in the ear itself, or in the eustachian tube connecting the middle ear with the throat. To study the muscus and remove it so as to restore hearing it is necessary to make a small incision in the drum (this later heals up completely) and draw the "gluey", stuff out with suction. Through understanding of the nature of this substance could lead to a way of stopping its occurrence, or at least indi­cate where it is coming from and sо get at the root of the trouble.

One of the problems of operating оn the ear is that it is small and difficult to get at - especially in children. Ear operations are routinely carried out through special bi­nocular microscopes that give the surgeon a greatly magnified view of what he is doing. It was with the aid of such a microscope that the reason for this very common type of deafness in children - mucoid substance - was discovered.

T E R M S

to affect поражать

gluey mucoid substance клейкое слизистое вещество

middle ear среднее ухо

ear-drum барабанная перепонка

inner ear внутреннее ухо

eustachian tube евстахиева труба

occurrence происхождение

EDUCATIONAL GUIDANCE OFHANDICAPPED CHILDREN

Educational guidance of children especially of those who are in anyway handicapped and present problems to their parents should bе the concern of every welfare state big or small because the quality of care a nation gives to its han­dicapped children is a test of its inward strength and pur­pose and every country should try to pass this test. Handi­capped children can be categorised as "Blind, Partially-sighted, Deaf, Partially-deaf, Delicate, Educationally sub­normal, Epileptic, Mal-adjusted, Physically handicapped and Speech-defective etc."

For educational guidance of these children it is essen­tial to secure the collaboration of a number of specialists. The normal working team should consist of a medicalman, an educationist experienced in testing and placement, an educa­tional Psychologist, a pediatrician or Psychiatrist or other specialists who may be occasionally required. Such teams as far as India is concerned should function under Nagar-palikas, Maha-palikas and Zila-parishads. These local bodies should have the general duty to provide schools sufficient in number, character and equipment for the education of all pupils in their area according to their ages, abilities and aptitudes. They should have particular duty to ensure that all disabled pupils in their area are educated by special methods appro­priate to their disability either in special schools or otherwise as suggested by the team for educational guidance. The team should consider a case for special educational treatment only when medical and surgical treatment is inappro­priate or has not effected the desired improvement. Before giving its final recommendations for special educational treatment in the case of any child the team should:

(i) Understand the complexities of his problems.

(ii) Suggest the parents ways by which they can help the child best as regards his social, emotional and in­tellectual development.

The recommendations about any child's educational placement should normally be made keeping in mind what is current­ly available but the team can certainly suggest to open edu­cational facilities for any category of children if the same is not provided and the local bodies on their part have every right to press upon the Government for help in the same.

To understand the complexities of a child's problems the team should draw up a schedule of the information required, so that nothing noteworthy is left and proper recommendations for placement are made or if necessary further investigations in the case are possible.

Briefly the team should have the information about a child under the following headings:

1. Usual personal information.

2. Aetiology and age of onset of the handicap.

3. Medical treatment given.

4. Medical report about the child,

5. Tests of hearing:

Pure tones, speech tests. In case the child hаs

6. Use of hearing aid if hearing defect.

supplied with one.

7. Attainments:

Language, speech, reading, arithmetic etc.

8. Psychological:

I.Q., parental attitudes, social adjustment etc.

9. Present placement.

These informations about a child can be had from parents, school records, teacher's report etc. In certain cases it may be necessary to test the child afresh and for it ex­perienced testers may be needed. These testers should besides having the mastery of thetechniques required for tests should also have:

(i) The skill to adapt the test situation to meet parti­cular problems presented bу individual children,

(ii) The ability to secure co-operation from children of different ages, aptitudes and temperaments.

Experience in advanced countries has shown that the re­commendations of the team should never be treated аs final because very often a child for proper educational guidance is found to be a case of re-examination. Therefore it will be a folly to close the case after first recommendations. Follow-up is an essential part of educational guidance. The right procedure should be to know the progress the child is making in the circumstances recommended and to consider whe­ther alternative recommendations are desirable. For this some months after the child's placement it is necessary that the team must have a report about his progress and then re-examine him to ensure if he has been properly placed for spe­cial educational treatment.

T E R M S

attainments знания, навыки

parental attitudes отношение родителей

complexities сложности

nothing noteworthy is left ничего не осталось из того, что следует отметить

aptitudes склонности, способности

term policy семестровый курс

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