The New York herald., 1921-07-05
Buses for Crippled Children.

Buses for Crippled Children.
One of the matters for considera-
tion in making up the city budget
this year is a request, behind which
are the Board Of Education and the
Association for the Aid Of Crippled
Children, for an appropriation for the
operation of motor buses to trans
port crippled children Of the city to
and from clinics. The situation
briefly stated is this The city al.
ready supplies buses to the Board of
Education to carry members Of the
crippled classes to and from school !;
but as the buses are idle between
their two trips, at 8 A. M. and p.
NJ, the purpose is to make use Of
them in the intervening time to take
children not in school to various
hospital clinics.
A survey which was asked for as
a basis for the calculation Of the in
creased expense to be incurred has
just been finished. In Manhattan the
number of crippled children regis
tered is 100; of these 610 are in Grip
pie classes, 22 are taught at home
and 15S are of pre-school age. The
number in need of transportation is
16S. In The Bronx the number reg
istered is 1876 and the number need;
ing transportation is Ill. This num-
ber, it can be readily seen, is not
large enough to demand great in
crease in the present appropriation.
The public care of the crippled
child-that Is, the care Of its physi-
cal and mental development until it
is cured or relieved and so we'll
equipped as no longer to need public
aids comparatively recent in this
city. The first class was started by
the Association for the Aid of Grip
pied Children, with fifteen children,
in 1900. Six years later the Board of
Education started its first class, the
association providing for the trans
portation Of the pupils. In 1913, how.
ever, the one class had become forty
one special classes. Since then there
has been gradual and continued
growth in interest and service.
Almost two-thirds of the $4,000
cripples in New York city were
stricken before they were 16 years
old. The important point here is that
child stricken at this early age has
better chance for normal develop
ment than il the affliction came
later in life. Young muscles and
bones may be successfully treated.
The chance for complete recovery
from infantile paralysis, accidents or
any crippling disease is generally in
proportion to the youth of the vic
tim. Neglect almost always makes
the case hopeless.
The Importance of proper treat
ment as early as possible is thus evil
dent. There are sufficient clinics to
take care OF the cases; the difficulty
is to give the child the advantage of
them. The parents. except in rare
cases, cannot carry their helpless chill
dren to the hospital, and the hiring
of a conveyance Is beyond their
means. The experiment of special
transportation was tried in 1917,
when the city hired buses to take VIC
Tins Of the 1916 epidemic OF polio
myelitis to the clinics for after treat
ment. While it was successful it was
naturally limited to the urgency of
the time.
The expenses Of the plan seem neg.
ligible in comparison with the good
which it may accomplish in trans
forming helpless youths into useful
citizens. The problem apparently
resolves itself into the question
whether it is better for the city to
spend money in healing and training
its crippled children or in supporting
them as invalid members OF the COM
munity through their life.