The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-11-27
FOR INVALID CHILDREN.
Unique Character and Helpful Work
of a Chicago School for Young
Persons Held Back by Misfortune.

Possibly the most unique education
al institution in the country today is
the school Tor invalid children out on
52OI DreXel avenue, Chicago. The
school was organized three years ago
by Miss Mary Campbell, who was do
| ing special work in psychology at the
University of Chicago.
The institution is a combined hos
pital and school, providing nursing,
medical care, and special education for
| young children who through illness or
congenital infirnities are not progress
| ing normally. 1t is Il semi-philan-
| thropic institution, and up to the time
Of the fire in April, it has been self
| supporting.
During the coming year, special at
tention to developing speech in young
children who through fnfantile illness,
such as scarlet fever, brain fever, sp-
nal meningitis diphtheria etc, have
lost speech, or when speech has been
retarded.
Miss Campbell with Miss Williams,
one of her assistants, has worked out
a method for the development Of
speech. The method is based on the
general method Of voice placing, COM
bned with that of the oral method
with the deaf.
The school works comparatively with
the University school OF education. AS
soon as child has developed sufficient
ly, he is permitted to do day school
work at the school of education. Back
ward children and children of retarded
mental or physical ability, children of
disproportonate development are given
u start in this little laboratory school,
and are then passed on to be perfected.
Instruction is given in music-vocal
and Observation-Disclosures medical and
orthopoedic gymnastics, sloyd and man
ual training, voice and speech develop
ment.
The school has a corps Of eight teach
ers, three graduate nurses and a staff
of consulting physicians. Lectures are
given to nurses and teachers by the
different physicians. DR.. Nicholas Sem,
who has been one of the most enthusi-
astic supporters of the school, has re-
Gently equipped pathological labora-
tory with all the modern appliances and
apparatus for making blood and urin-
airy analyses.
Last year some interesting food ex-
periments We're conducted. The food
WAS ulialyHeu DetOfe eaten and each of
the eScreta was carefully analyzed to
find out Just what foods We're being
digested properly. In some instances 1t
was found that a child was getting too
much meat, another not enough. Some
children had too much starchy food,
others again not enough.
The blood was submitted to micro
scopical examination, to find out if a
child's headache and lassitude were due
10 anaemia or indigestion.
Careful records of the chldrens tenn
perature, pulse, and respiration are
Kept and diagramed and then compare
sons are made to show the correlation
OF the child's mental condition and
physical condition for certain day and
hour.
rests are made in the PSYCHOLOGICAL
laboratory i'm order to corroborate by
scientific experiment the obseryational
OF empirical knowledge. The institu-
tion Is we'll adapted for psycho-patholo
sical research, and will probably make
valuable contributions to the scientific
education OF sub-normal children.