Mentally Defective Children: Counsel by Mrs. Hume Pinsent at Sparkbrook. Before a crowded attendance at the men’s meeting in connection with the Stratford Road Baptist Church, Sparkbrook, yesterday afternoon, Mrs. Hume Pinsent gave an address on mentally defective children, in which she denounced as cruel and non-economic the present methods of dealing with them. Mrs. Pinsent pointed out that in Birmingham the authorities had not waited for statutory compulsion to make them see to the training and care of the mentally defective and she dealt in detail with the education imparted at the various special schools. She said she was sorry that 60 per cent. of the children so dealt with never learned enough to be of any use to them. Many of them were taught and became fairly proficient at various manual trades, but that “something wanting” in their mental equipment showed itself in a deplorable lack of self-control when not under supervision that led them to drink and crime and other vices. After all the care and attention bestowed upon them only 5 per cent. of the number could earn as much as 10s per week, and the remaining ninety out of every hundred had to be supported by the community – and supported mostly, in prisons, the workhouse, the inebriate reformatories, and the asylums. Discussing suggested remedies, Mrs. Pinsent emphasized the importance of continuous control by authorities under one special State department, which should be compelled to provide suitable training, care and after-control of the mentally defective. …
Transcribed in whole or part from scanned originals: Presented with or without modified text and punctuation. For absolute accuracy refer to the original newspapers. Source: The British Newspaper Archive
Referenced
GRO0245 Devonport: Ellen Frances Parker: 1866 – 1949