Claremont (1959)

[Music] her left side is slightly paralyzed and she cannot feel with her left cistal's 300 cereal children some call them spastics the doctor at this special clinic at the Children's Hospital explains this to her mother while the educational psychologist tests her ability when this is known he'll be able to discuss her future with doctor and parents many such children attend ordinary schools then return to this clinic for regular treatment this little girl's been coming ever since she was a baby the cerebral paed child knows what he wants to do but cannot always do it there may be nothing wrong with the thinking part of his brain but the area responsible for controlling his movements has been damaged at Birth or before for some children much more handicapped than these an ordinary school is out the question so for them the Bristol education committee has provided this special day School Claremont [Music] my [Music] years ago it was assumed that children like these could not be taught now we know that their ertic movements are only a failure to communicate between brain and muscle it's like a switchboard in which the wires have got tangled if they are to find a way around their difficulties they'll need much individual attention for they find it difficult to concentrate difficult to persevere Colin knows the answer to his sum so he pulls out the numbered pegs then his teacher can write it down Catherine has more control but not enough to hold a pencil so she does this Peter's another who cannot write but he too has been shown a way to express himself for Mary it takes a long time to produce a word spelling it out letter by letter but she knows what letter she's after and she knows her teacher will be there to copy it down for her it took her a quar of an hour to write the first line to finish it will need a lot more hard work and encouragement handicaps vary so almost every child has to be taught in a different way but all these children can read and some of them are making such progress that they will later be transferred to ordinary schools an occasional cerebral puled child even reaches the University so normal school work must not be neglected for the more handicapped children who will stay at Claremont until they are 15 or 16 practical training is also provided in the specially designed housecraft room Susan learns how she can cook and clean here through the combined efforts of the occupational therapist and domestic science teacher she is being helped towards independence in her everyday life many need the help of the speech therapist this child would jerk about do you remember her with the pastry but in this position her involuntary movements are controlled there's also a teacher of the death for the brain injury can affect all the senses the child watches and listens then picks out the number she is saying it's just like a game at first but it's a game on which a great deal is going to depend all the children have physiotherapy several times a week treatment has to start very early in life but they have to be taught how to roll to sit to crawl all in the correct way everyone wants to walk but at present only one in four of clar's children can do so perhaps in three or four years this girl will be one of them a child's chair and table must be exactly the right size or she may sit awkwardly and become deformed it's worth taking every care when so much is at stake the physiotherapists also organized the movement of children outside the treatment room John can only just walk so he is being helped to get around another way there are two main types of cerebral ped Children First the true spastics like John who have a stiffness in one or more of their limbs then there are the AIDS they are easily recognized by their involuntary movements an is one of them some have to be taught how to play but they have never been able to experience the fun and games of ordinary children their parents often come to watch them to give help and to receive it so that Lessons Learned at school can be continued at home it's all good fun but not like the real Seaside not like Weston when we went to West we went in a coach we got in a coach and I sat next to valer so when we got down there we went in the water but the grown said it was too cold but I like going on the pear and going on the donkey the best when they get back to Claremont they'll go on talking about it for a long time it'll give them something to run write about too and if you can't write one way well you write another meanwhile there's another task ahead feeding practice this time Jimmy finds the thick handled spoon easier to grasp it may take an aoid years before he can manage without these AIDS but he won't be satisfied until he can eat just like his ordinary brother and sister when the children from the neighboring Junior School go home even the youngest at clar knows it's time for lunch a guiding hand from the speech therapist and she's doing fine some 15 of the 38 children need help with feeding so it's all hands on deck therapists teachers some of the parents the head mistress everyone helps after lunch comes a rest suitable positions are decided by the physiotherapist ists gradually the children are learning to look after themselves and to help each other like this aoid girl and boy [Music] claremont's children Will Never Move like these but it's a happy sight for them when the girls from the neighboring Junior School come up to share in their pack meeting today is rather a special occasion for one little girl at least she's just 7 and a half but she's carefully leared what she must say and now everyone's looking at her not an easy situation for a cerebral paed child brownie giv to the older folk a brownie not given to herself I promise to do my best to do my duty to Garden the queen to help other people every day especially those at home and so she is accepted accepted by ordinary children but what will happen when she leaves school will she be accepted then if you're an employer will you give her a job if you're an employee will you welcome her beside you these children are finding it can be a two-way traffic just as the brownies came up so these three are going down their neighbors are giving them a chance later on will the rest off us do the same [Music] n [Music]