The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1929-05-23
Text of Address

challenges Rotary Clubs in many
communities to help in solving. l
think that the term physically hand
icapped" should be substituted for
crippled" as a term inclusive of all
those unfortunates who, for any phys
ical reason, are handicapped in COM
petition with normal persons. There
are two aspects of this problem which
are appealing and compelling.
First, the humanitarian side. Ger
tainly there is nothing which enlists
our sympathies with quite as much
force as the prospect of helping those
children who begin the race of life
handicapped by physical disabilities.
In the brief time at my disposal l
shall not attempt to recite individual
cases. Those of us who attended the
District Conference at York last year
doubtless retain the vivid memory of
the demonstration of corrections
which were obtained for crippled chill
dren by the Rotary Club. 1t was an
outstanding piece of work for the en-
tire district, and one of tremendous
value to the community. In these
brief observations l shall merely at
tempt to call attention to some of the
fundamentals of such program.
The second aspect of this problem
appeals to us as business men. 1t is
distinctly economic in its nature, as
distinguished from the humanitarian
side, which is distinctly social prob
lem. A physically handicapped child
frequently becomes a community liza
bility. Unable many times, because Of
their physical condition or lack of ad-
equate specialized training to be self
supporting, such individuals become
dependent upon their families, friends
or the government under which they
live. Therefore, anything which can
be done to enable these unfortunates
to become independent, at least in
part, to that extent relieves the bur-
den on others, and in effect converts
the liability into an asset. Not the
least important is the feeling of self
respect which inures to the individual
because of his independence. 1t in
creases his self-respect, which is a
valuable and necessary quality. Ad-
hitting these general observations to
be true, the question arises, what part
can Rotary Club have in a commun-
ity program to help physically handi-
capped children? Naturally, there
are two parts to the answer of this
question.
First. Ascertain the amount and
kind of help needed. This, of course,
contemplates inquiry into the num-
Der of children in a community who
are physically handicapped, the kind
of assistance or correction needed,
and
Second To discover or provide re-
medal measures or supply the nee
essary help.
In these activities Rotary Clubs
may render important help. l do not
propose a burdensome program which
the busy men composing Rotary Clubs
would find difficult or impossible of
accomplishment. 1t is usually not nee
essary for clubs to do the detail work.
Frequently such information is avail
able from official or unofficial sources,
or both. For example, in Maryland, a
law recently passed by the Legisla-
ture requires the State Department of
Education to notify the State De-
partment of Health of all cases of
physically handicapped children as
certained by taking a census. The
Health Department examines such
children and reports back to the De-
partment of Education such children
as need or should have special treat
ment or training.
The Educational Department is
therefore the depository of informa-
ton, and may be the source from
which the program will start. The
next step is to discover or provide
medical or surgical treatment for cor
rection or amelioration of diseased
conditions. In the larger cities where
orthopedic hospitals and orthopedic
surgeons are available the problem is
greatly simplifed. In the smaller
communities it is frequently neces-
sary to bring the facilities, particu-
larly the orthopedist, to the child.
Having put the child, physically in
4 the best possible condition the next
' step is to cooperate with the educa-
tional authorities in securing facilities
for specialized education, in schools
especially equipped to teach physical
ly handicapped children; the courses
should be largely vocational, which
will fit such children as far as posi-
BILE to become independent. Crippled
children present difficult problem in
education since they require as an
ideal to be sought for, fire proof
buildings of one story, with specially
constructed desks and other equip
ment; and not infrequently physi-