Newark post., 1910-04-20

the power to make the simplest
movements accurately. He sell
dom learns to read and write, and
sometimes cannot learn to talk,
and III most cases is marked
moral delinquent. An imbecile of
the low grade has marked physical
defects, the head, body and limbs
are decidedly assymetrical, his
muscular control is very limited,
and he generally lacks all power
to care for himself. Mentally, he
is SO defective that the most intel
ligent care usually results only in
the gaining OF some muscular con-
troll. An idiot has practically no
physical control, cannot care for
himself in any way, and is mentally
almost completely lacking. He
seldom shows any sign of human
intelligence.
From the point of view of the
school we can eliminate at once
the imheciles OF the middle and
low grade, and the IDIOT. The
State has recognized these as pub
lie charges and has established
asylums for their care and treat
mcnt. The State of Pennsylvania
has perhaps the best and most
complete system of asylums in the
world for the care and treatment
OIL these Ca ses, :, in. our own State
the General Assembly supports All
asylum for the mentally deranged
at Farnhurst and it has made pro-
vision for the care of imbecilcs OF
the two lower grades and idiots, in
ncighboring States.
Having cleared the field some
" " 1ai-l laaAI-readN to take up
the question of inspection i'll the
schools for mental defects. Tie
boy whom. | mentioned in the be-
ginning OF this part of my thesis
comes up for examination. A
pupil who is not in the grade his
years would indicate is designated
as retarded. (This definition OF
the term retarded is incomplete,
but will do for our present pur-
pose.) He is ten years old and in
the first grade, three years retard-
ed in his school progress. What
is the cause of this retardation
This is the problem of the inspec-
tor.
The retardation may be due to
the following causes which of ne
cessity cannot explain, but mere
~ indicate:
/. He may be mentally defec'
tive. This lack Of mental power
may be inherited from feeble mind
ed parents or it may be due to
some congenital disturbance. That
is. he is born imbecile.
! ,. Ii may be case OF arr .sted
development. The brain ma,
have been pc, Fectly normal al
birth, but injured by the effects O
a severe disease during early
childhood. Again, development
may have been arrested by an ac.
cident OF the head during earl,
childhood. Further. development
may have been arrested due to th>
lack Of proper care during child
hood. This includes improper MI.
triton and lack of proper father
and mother care.
3. 1t may bed tie to the lack O
school training. The parents may
not have sent him to school, or he
may be habitual truant and La,
attended very irregularly.
4. He NAV have marked ply
sical defects, such as poor hearing
or poor vision.
5. He may have had very poo,
out of school environment. which
would tend to make school pro
gress very slow.
The inspector, knowing tht
child's family history and environ
ment. and having made his ow,
physical tests. has by process o
climinati III to determine the rca
son for ,hc .rctardation. If h,
finds the cause TO be physical sucl
as defective vision or hearing. o.
adenoids, the correction of thi
defect may be all that is necessar,