[Report 1937] / School Medical Officer of Health, Salford.

  • Salford (England). Council.
Date:
1937
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1937] / School Medical Officer of Health, Salford. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    to read ordinary school books, the print of which would be far too small, and would definitely injure their eyesight. In the case of the non-myopic children these children can only read school books and the board with great difficulty and it is only with time and gradual steady perseverance that they begin to be able to read. Both types of children, if they were in an ordinary school taught as other children and treated in the same way, would be handicapped in their efforts to compete with the other children. This particularly is the case of little ones of 5-7 years old, who are possibly rather shy and spoilt at home because of their defective eyesight, and have not been allowed to play out as other children, then when they go to school for the first time, the other children quickly discover the new child’s defects and cruelly point it out or leave the child severely alone. The ophthalmic officer attends the school every three weeks to see the clinic cases, the children with broken glasses and any other complaints. A complete examination is made every six months as regards their general health, the vision and the condition of the eyes, using mydriatic drops. Every 12 months a complete refraction examination is made under a mydriatic and glasses are changed or lenses adjusted according to the findings. One of the nurses visits the school daily to administer any treatments, and once weekly a cleanliness inspection is undertaken by the nurse. Every effort is made where the eye condition shows no sign of deterioration, and where the acuity is not worse than 6/36 to transfer the children after a period in the partially-sighted school to ordinary school. The number of children admitted to South Bank during the year was 9 (2 girls and 7 boys), and the number discharged 18 (6 girls and 12 boys). TABLE S IVa. Summary of Cases seen by' the Ophthalmic Officer at the Education Office during the Ydar 1937. A.—Refractions. Boys. Girls. Total. Hypermetropia. 81 86 167 Hypermetropic Astigmatism. 365 367 732 Myopia.. 26 46 72 Myopic Astigmatism. 229 263 3 492 Emmetropia. 7 10 Mixed Astigmatism. 28 30 58 Anisometropia. 10 5 15 Nil.. 72 88 160 Squint Occlusion. 233 168 401 Orthoptic Treatment. 144 114 258 Total. 1195 1170 2365
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