Girl Scouting and the Physically Handicapped

\J<0 U y -r> a. / 0 f f/ief * /0 —■

Girl Scouting and

the Physically Handicapped

^ 4 /j4, 4
>•^

# f / 1 4 r

i. y# /

BERNICE RINGMAN

In England, one day in 1909, a
handful of wistful-eyed girls stood out¬
side an iron gate enviously watching a
Boy Scout troop pitch their tents and
build fires. It was this small group of
girls that formed the nucleus for a
world - wide movement
which now has more than
a million members in some
forty odd countries, the
various Girl Scout organi¬
zations. In the United
States, the credit for intro¬
ducing Girl Scouting be¬
longs to Juliette Low, and
since the early days of the
movement in this country
it has grown very rapidly.

For the year 1937, the
twenty-fifth anniversary of
the founding of the Girl Scouts of
America, the membership of the or¬
ganization was about 400,000. Of
course this number does not include
the thousands of Brownies, members
of the junior organization for girls be¬
tween seven and ten years of age.

For eighteen years the Girl Scout
organization of Great Britain has tak¬
en the lead in Scouting for the physi¬
cally handicapped, and it was in Lou¬
don that the first international train¬
ing course for leaders of handicapped
Scouts was held last spring.

The First International Train-

• Bernice Bingman, B. P. E., is physio¬
therapist and instructor at the Michigan State
Normal College, Ypsilanti. She is a graduate
of the Sydsvenska Gymnastik Institute of
Lund, Sweden, besides having studied in sever¬
al American colleges and universities.

ing Course. This London convention
of leaders of handicapped Girl Scouts
was attended by thirty-seven delegates
from thirteen countries all of whom
took the training course. The sessions
were held from March 27 to April 3,
1936 at Bedford College
amid the beautiful land¬
scaping of Regents Park.
The course was intended for
the training of leaders of
troops for , the deaf, the
blind, the crippled, and the
mentally deficient, and in¬
volved information con¬
cerning the methods used
in England and a general
exchange of experiences
and ideas. There were i
lectures, demonstrations,
and visits to Scout troops. The dele¬
gates made a strong impression on ob¬
servers, since they represented a var¬
iety of languages, customs, and tradi¬
tions. Yet they were earnestly con¬
cerned with a common problem. These

delegates from Australia, Belgium,
Canada, Denmark, Finland, France,
Great Britain, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the
United States 1 could not have been

1 The delegates from the United States were
Mrs. Burlingham, a vice-president of the Girl
Scouts of America and in charge of the work
for the physically handicapped; Miss B. Tom¬
linson of National Headquartfery", Mrs. S.
Bushman, a council member from Indianapolis;
and four Girl Scout Leaders: Mrs. A. Platt
from Perkins Institution fbr the 31ind; Miss
Clara Hamel of the Rochester Scnool f(v 'lie
Deaf; Miss Mary Aim Sullivan; cfipp.in of a
cardiac troop of the Home of the Good
Samaritan, Boston; and the author.

Bernice Ringman

1938

73

JOURNAL OF EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN

more united in spirit if they had ail
been of one nationality.

By way of reporting the convention to
teachers and others interested in the
education of handicapped children, the
following paragraphs supply a sum¬
mary of some of the units in the train¬
ing course, together with a comparison
of practices in England and the United
States.

Progress and Achievements in
Scouting for the Handicapped- From
the discussions and reports at the
conference, it appeared that England
and the United States are outstanding
for their accomplishment in Scouting
for handicapped girls. The Nether¬
lands has attempted to do some work,
in which her policies and plans have
been patterned after those of England ;
and other Continental countries are
either beginning or planning such pro¬
grams.

The most noteworthy achievements
in the programs developed in England
and in the United States have been the
intelligent adaptation of the Scout pro¬
gram so as to meet the needs of many
different types of physically handicap¬
ped girls, and the enlistment of large
numbers of children in groups that
have been able to take advantage of
such a program. During the past eigh¬
teen years, 646 companies and packs
for physically handicapped have been
organized in England. In the United
States during the past eight years, 134
troops and packs have been organized.
While the programs are still being
modeled and perfected, many more
troops might be organized where handi¬
capped girls may profit by such ex¬
periences.

* N M 1 1 ** V * '

The English Plan: The Exten¬
sion Branch. In England the physi¬
cally 'fyaucSlicapped from the first were

in a group by themselves, called the
Extension Branch, rather than included
in the regular Guide or Scout program.
This Extension Branch is composed of
five divisions: the crippled, the deaf,
the blind, the mentally deficient, and
the Post Guide. The leaders use, as a
supplement to the regular Scout man¬
ual, an Extension Book which offers to
a child suggestions for alternatives
when she cannot pass the regular Guide
test. Thus the handicapped are en¬
abled to earn appropriate rewards in
spite of their handicaps. This method
emphasizes the effort of the child and
improvement of her own standard of
achievement.

The girls are divided into three
groups according to their ages: the
Brownies from eight to eleven years,
the Guides from twelve to sixteen, and
the Rangers over sixteen. The pro¬
grams for these groups vary in diffi¬
culty to meet the needs at different
ages and for varying abilities, but the
fundamental goals of character-build¬
ing, intelligence, handicrafts, and
health are stressed in all the programs.
Much emphasis is placed on the spirit¬
ual values of Scouting.

The English are unusually success¬
ful in adapting their program for the
severely crippled girl who is unable to
meet the regular rank and badge re¬
quirements. For one thing, they sup¬
ply alternatives for the crippled girl
who is unable to cover a mile (Scout’s
pace) in twelve minutes, thirty seconds,
error allowed each way; or has done
walks of at least three miles. Accord¬
ing to the Extension Book she may
substitute breathing exercises. An¬
other alternative is supplied for the
first aid test where the Guide must
show how to treat simple cuts, burns,
and fainting and how to stop bleeding

JANUARY

GIRL SCOUTING AND THE PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED

(with pad and bandage on the wound
only) and choking; apply large arm
sling and bandage a sprained ankle.
Here, the crippled child may tell some¬
one else how to carry out the treat¬
ment. In this case, while the actual
performance of the test is omitted,
the Guide would be able in an emer¬
gency to direct someone else. Knot
tying is another test for which an al¬
ternative is provided. Here, the sub¬
stitute requirement is satisfied if the
necessary knots are tied with the help
of someone else, or if the names and
uses are known and someone else di¬
rected how to tie them.

In the five divisional groups for the
handicapped, it appeared that only the
deaf were not given alternative tests.
Because of the limited vocabulary of
most deaf children, however, it is
necessary to dramatize abstract ideas.
Conversation is carried on by sign lan¬
guage, manual alphabet, or lip reading,
the latter being encouraged.

Although the program for the blind
allows the use of alternative tests,
there is a growing tendency to modify
the regular tests rather than to sub¬
stitute special tests. This modification
enables the blind girl to follow the
same program as the normal, which is
a source of satisfaction to her. An ex¬
ample of ingenious modification is pro¬
vided in the method used to teach the
blind the Morse Code. By using long
beads to represent dashes and short
beads to represent dots, the children
are taught the code and are then able
to send messages by sewing these beads
on a card with needle and thread.
Simple messages can be sent by placing
macaroni and beans on the table to
represent dashes and dots.

Another example of a modification is
the method used to teach the blind girls

1938

the flags of all countries. Since these
children cannot see or visualize colors,
different kinds of materials are used to
represent different colors. Thus, red
is a cotton material, blue is velvet,
white is silk, and so on. These various
materials are sewed together into the
design of some national flag, and by
running their hands over the finished
products, the girls are able to distin¬
guish the different flags. Similarly, a
nature scene can be interpreted by us¬
ing cellophane to represent water,
feathers for birds, and thread and yarn
for flowers and trees.

Since blind girls are especially adept
at doing folk dances, the English Ex¬
tension. Branch allows them to sub¬
stitute this skill for swimming; thus to
“know six country dances or perform
six physical exercises and know their
uses” may be substituted for “be able
to swim fifty yards.”

In a lecture on the work being done
with the mentally deficient Guide, Dr.
D. Turner 1 pointed out that of the
three groups of mentally defectives—
morons, imbeciles, and idiots—the last
two groups are too largely defective to
take advantage of Guiding, but that
the morons may well profit by such
training. The morons, of course, merge
imperceptibly into the less subnormal
group, reaching an ultimate mental de¬
velopment of between eight to twelve
years. This type has the highest in¬
telligence quotient commonly met with
in institutions for the feebleminded,
Dr. Turner explained, and the type of
Guide one would find in such an insti¬
tution Avould be defective in intellect or
temperament or in both. He concluded
by saying that Guiding is a form of
treatment and the success of the troop

1 Medical Superintendent of the Royal Eastern
Counties Institution, Colchester, England.

75

JOURNAL OF EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN

or company depends entirely on the
personality of the guider or leader.

The mentally deficient Guide, like
the other types we have discussed, may
also use alternatives when she is un¬
able to pass the regular tests. Thus,
instead of “signal the alphabet in
Morse Code (both reading and send¬
ing) ” she may substitute “keep a small
plot of ground for two months, and
weed a garden path. Know the prin¬
ciple tools for gardening and their
uses; and be able to recognize six
plants and six vegetables when they
are growing.”

Realizing that a great number of all
types of handicapped children are con¬
fined in homes and hospitals making it
impossible for them to attend regular
troop or company meetings, the Eng¬
lish, in 1921, organized another di¬
vision to their Extension Branch called
the Post Guides. These Post Guides
are grouped together in troops with a
leader in charge and lieutenant assist¬
ing. Instead of holding weekly meet¬
ings, a company letter is compiled by
the captain, who circulates it among
the children at regular intervals of a
fortnight or month, each girl keeping
the letter two or three clays.

The letters displayed were very in¬
teresting. They resembled pages from
a scrap book, and included captain’s
letters, stories, pictures, competitive
games among the patrols of the troop,
badge articles, woodcraft, post box,
puzzles, and a few humorous cartoons
and pictures. Through this letter the
Post Guides are able to plan holidays
and to meet several times a year. In
connection with the Post Guide it may
be of interest to know that the Exten¬
sion Branch maintains a Handicraft
Depot. “It is a channel through which
members of the Extension Branch are

given an opportunity to earn money by
their own efforts. Any disabled Guide
or Ranger may send her work to be
sold. The majority of those who use
the Depot are Post Guides and Rangers
who need help to bring them in touch
with people who will buy their work.”

The handicapped Scouts may earn
efficiency badges for passing certain
special tests. In addition to those
earned by normal Guides, they may
earn the gardener’s badge for bed-rid¬
den Guides, the language badge for
the deaf which is meant to stimulate
growth in the use of vocabulary, and
also the badge of fortitude which is of¬
fered for endurance under suffering.

Probably the most outstanding of the
Guide program for the Extension
Branch is the excellent camping facili¬
ties offered to all of the five divisions.
During 1935 there were fifty special
camps in use. Generally girls of the
same handicap attend the same camp.

Miss Jean Robinson, herself blind,
originated the idea of camps for the
blind Guides. Speaking before the con¬
ference, Miss Robinson told of the won¬
ders and joys that nature held for the
blind. She explained that the camp
site should be carefully chosen so that
the blind may appreciate the ripple of
a brook, the exhilarating fragrance of
the pines, the hum of insects, and the
trill of birds. Nature holds no fears
for the blind, for here are no doors to
slam or automobiles to dodge. The
camp offers an abundance of physical
and mental relaxation. Miss Robinson
urges that camp sites for the blind be
level and those places that are not
level be roped off. Also, ropes with
knots in them should be used as guide
lines to the various tents.

The English leaders explained that
camping for the crippled entails much

76

JANUARY

GIRL SCOUTING AND THU PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED

preparation, extra help, and necessary
equipment such as wheel chairs, walk¬
ers, and toilet facilities close at hand.
With the provision of such facilities,
although it entails added expense, the
opportunity for crippled children out
of doors becomes valuable both educa¬
tionally and spiritually. In fact the
English have made it possible for every
type of handicapped child to experience
camp days including the Post Guides
on movable beds and in casts.

Camping for the deaf and the men¬
tally defectives is carried on in much
the same way as it is for normal
Guides. Attention is given to those
which their handicaps prevent.

A Visit to Queen Mary's Hos¬
pital. AVe visited several hospitals and
institutions during our short stay
and were able to observe the different
types of handicapped Scouts in their
work. Since Scouting for the crippled
girl was my special interest, Queen
Mary’s Hospital will be the only one
described.

Situated in Carshalton, a suburb of
London, the hospital is enclosed in a
galaxy of tall towering trees, low
hanging hushes, and winding paths
with its broad expansive main build¬
ing in front of many rows of cot¬
tages. Within its confines were many
troops of varied physical abilities.
But no matter how difficult their
handicaps, one was conscious of a great
deal of enthusiasm and activity. In
one troop we visited, half of the mem-
• bers were lying in a horizontal posi¬
tion either in traction or in huge body
casts, with the few that were able to
walk wearing abduction splints and
casts. AVhile there we saw a girl lying
flat on her back raise the flag by using
a specially constructed flag pole stand¬
ing about thirty-six inches high. An¬

other girl lying in a huge body cast,
but having good use of her arms and
hands, was able to pass the fire build¬
ing test by using an asbestos mat and
a tin tray. Although it was impossible
for her to collect the wood she did ar¬
range and prepare the wood using but
one match to start the fire. There were
many activities in progress including
handwork, sending of messages in
Morse Code, and nature projects. Every
girl wore a uniform. Where it was im¬
possible for her to slip it on overhead,
the uniforms were opened down the
back and fastened with ties. Everyone
was occupied and seemed cheerful and

gay-

Scouting for the Handicapped in
the United States. AVhile England
has her Extension Branch, the United
States in contrast offers the same pro¬
gram and awards to all Girl Scouts,
normal and exceptional. The tests are
not identical to those in England; how¬
ever, the ranks—tenderfoot, second,
and first class—are the same. After
completion of the second class require¬
ment, the Scout may work for any of
the fifty-two merit bandges. The
United States does not have a program
that parallels with the English Ranger.
The feeling seems to be that if the girl
wishes to continue Scout work she does
so in the capacity of a lieutenant.

The handicapped girls that are in¬
cluded in Scouting are the crippled,
cardiopathic, deaf, blind, and Home
Scouts. Instead of offering alterna¬
tives, the United States is working on
“a program so inclusive, flexible, and
rich with opportunity for choice that
it provides for every type of girl—
blind, crippled, deaf, and under privi¬
leged, city or country bred.” It is this
program that they feel will answer the
plea of the handicapped Scouts; that

1938

77

JOURNAL OF EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN

is, to do the same things that normal
girls do, to have the same challenge
and the same representation in the
group.

The problem of dealing with the
crippled child offers obstacles because
of the many individual physical dif¬
ferences among them as compared with
the homogeneous difficulties of the
blind and the deaf. Among the crip¬
pled, limitations vary from the slight
involvement of one hand or foot to that
of the entire body. There may be per¬
haps also a speech defect. In some in¬
stances the girl is confined to her bed
hardly able to move. Within this
range we find that many girls have no
difficulty in carrying on all the activi¬
ties of the present regular Girl Scout
program.

When a crippled girl cannot pass a
test she may upon consultation with
National Headquarters get some sug¬
gestions for modifications and different
approaches to the test. Leaders are
constantly encouraged to experiment
in handling the program. Thus a crip¬
pled girl can profit by the wide and
flexible range of activities where she
herself may choose rather than having
a definite set requirement.

In the United States as in England,
the deaf girl can pass any of the regu¬
lar tests. There are no Brownie packs
for the deaf in this country at the
present time.

As the new program is yet in the ex¬
perimental stage, our present set-up
has only three approved alternatives;
these refer to the partially sighted and
the blind groups. They are as follows:

1. Some other handiwork than
sewing to meet the second class
sewing requirement for the girl
whose oculist forbids the use of
her eyes for sewing.

2. Some first aid knowledge and
skill for the blind girl other than
taking out a splinter.

3. Ability on the part of the blind
girl to use an eye cup rather than
attempt to remove a speck from
the eye. This last is the procedure
approved by many authorities in
every case of a speck in the eye.

Miss Katherine Maxfield 1 has de¬
vised many unique methods of adjust¬
ing the Scout program for the blind.
By using whistles as signals, she de¬
vised a system whereby the blind could
pass swimming and diving tests. Then
to make it possible for them to pass the
first aid test, she had all the articles in
the first aid kit labeled with a braille
inscription on adhesive tape. She
taught them how to read a compass,
make and follow maps, build fires, pass
their requirements for a cook’s badge,
learn bird calls by listening to victrola
records and construct bird houses and
feeding platforms. Stars and their
relative positions to other constellations
are sewed on large paper with yarn,
after someone else lias placed the pat
tern on the material, the blind are able
to cut out and sew their own uni¬
forms. The work of Miss Maxfield is
an example of what can be done with
a little ingenuity and experimentation.
Probably the outstanding achievements
in Scouting for the blind and the parti¬
ally sighted are the braille handbook
and the handbook of large type print¬
ing.

Post Guiding, or Home Scouts as we *
call them in this country, is a recent
innovation. YVhile still in its infancy,
some interesting work is being done on
a small scale.

1 Director, Arthur Sunshine Home and Nursery
School for the Blind. Formerly Director of
Personnel and Research at Perkins Institution.

78

JANUARY

GIRL SCOUTING AND THE PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED

The United States does not include
the mentally deficient girl in the Scout
program. While special schools and in¬
stitutions may use the program, the
girls are not registered at National
Headquarters and do not use the
badges and awards.

Our camping schedule does not as
yet compare favorably with that of
England but the movement is growing,
for with each year more camps are be¬
ing sponsored for the various groups
of physically handicapped Scouts.

Scouting in Special Education
(lasses. The school has a real
obligation in helping the child ad¬
just herself mentally, physically, and
socially. At present, with recreational
facilities sadly neglected and inade¬
quate and the children in special classes
segregated in a separate room or build¬
ing, this obligation of the school can¬
not be fulfilled. It is possible for a
Girl Scout troop to fill this apparent
gap.

The Scout troop at the Michigan
State Normal College, in the Special
Education Department, is made up of
girls from the sight-saving class, the
oral-deaf class, the orthopedic room,
and (with special permission from Na¬
tional Headquarters) the girls from
the subnormal room. True, this may
seem to be a too heterogeneous group,
but it is comparatively small and with
the exception of an occasional prob¬
lem, each youngster has some ad¬
vantage physically or mentally. It is
far better to have them in a mixed
group than to deprive them of the con¬
tacts and experiences they are receiv¬
ing. Then, too, when these girls are
able to attend the regular school, they
may continue with Scout work. This
alone may help them to find themselves
more rapidly because of having some j

thing in common with their new com¬
panions.

The troop participates in the same
things that one would expect from the
normal Girl Scouts. Some of the acti¬
vities are: to act in the capacity of a
service club in school functions, attend
city-wide function such as the Court of
Awards, tree planting, nature contests,
parties, and also sell cookies—a custom
which is observed nationally. The
money raised is generally used toward
a camp fund. The girls are constantly
made to feel that they are serving the
community and that they are part of
a world-wide movement.

Last summer these girls had the
thrilling experience of going to a Scout
camp with the other Scouts in town.
Here extra facilities were provided for
when necessary and the camp schedule
so arranged that each girl might profit
by the experience to the best of her
ability. For example, if hikes were im¬
possible, fishing was substituted.
Though the children were divided into
groups for the different activities there
were many general gatherings such as
colors, meals, singing, programs, and
camp fires. Everyone was expected to
perform capers such as dishwashing,
sweeping, napkin folding, and so forth.

In addition to such recreational ac¬
tivities there are therapeutic aspects
of Scouting. The physiotherapist is
always seeking ways to encourage the
patient and create incentives for her.
Scouting may serve as an incentive and
through this medium one is also de¬
veloping muscles and coordination of
movements. Many interesting ex¬
amples could be cited Avhere remark¬
able progress has been made. The
Scout activities were correlated with
the regular muscle training and exer-
(Continued on Page 92)

1938

79

Remedial Reading as it Pertains
to the Atypical Child

T

here are several reasons for the
increased interest in remedial reading
and the apparent increase in number
of poor readers in schools today.

1. Teachers are feeling greater re¬
sponsibility for the welfare of each
child. And this has made

them more sensitive to
the deficiencies in read¬
ing along with other
school subjects.

2. New standards of
promotion have been
adopted in some schools
which make it possible at
times to promote pupils
who are deficient in one
or more subjects. As a
result, poor habits of
reading often become
more conspicuous than if the/pupil
had been retained in the p/evious
grade.

3. The enrichment of the y6ourse of
study has made it nee/ssary for
pupils to engage in many/more forms
and applications of heading than
were formerly required. Hence many
deficiencies are exhibited today
which were not reyealed formerly.

4. Many school > systems have at¬
tempted recently to reorganize both
the content and methods employed
in teaching reading. As usually

• Gladys L. Pottee, M. A., is assistant
chief of the Division of Elementary Educa¬
tion and Rural Schools, California State De¬
partment of Education, Sacramento. The ac¬
companying article was read before the De¬
partment of Special Education of the National
Education Association, at Portland, Oregon,
July 1, 1936.

GLADYS L. POTTER

happens during a period of transi¬
tion, certain phases ovthe subject
are neglected or not emphasized ef¬
fectively.

5. The early studies of remedial
reading cases stimulated broader in¬
terest in diagnosis and
remedial instruction with
the result that many
valuable studies have
been made and reported
for the benefit of teach¬
ers during recent years.
In the traditional pro¬
gram slow pupils were sup¬
posed to differ in will
power or disposition, rather
than in the ability to learn.
A relatively marked inca¬
pacity for literacy charac¬
terizes about twenty-five per cent of
our elementary school children. Some
are iforever incapable of attaining any
effective control over words and num¬
bers ; sWe will attain literacy only to
a limited degree; but there are vast
numbers o£ children who can attain a
degree of literacy that will make life
easier and happier if the methods used
by the teacheV meet their needs and
abilities.

Gates tells us that if is a remark¬
able achievement toNteach any child of
less than 65 I. Q. to read new material
unassisted. 1

Those who have made a study of
remedial reading- are frank to state

ys L. Potter

1 Arthur J. Gates. Interest and Ability in
Heading. New York: the Macmillan Company,
1930, p. 14.

80

JANUARY

JOURNAL OF EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN

varied in scope. Condensed, the re¬
sults were along the following lines:

1. Reading: Continual practice in
reading resulted from following charts,
lists of directions to observe in build¬
ing the post office, the short stories
and poems about mail service, and de¬
scriptions of post office activities writ¬
ten upon the black board.

2. Written Language: The thank-
you letter to the branch post office
where we saw mail routine, the writing
of notes to relatives and small friends
and to each other in the classroom gave
increased skill in expression as well as
a better idea of proper letter forms.

3. Spoken Language: General class¬
room discussions prompted clearer ex¬
pression of ideas, originality of
thought, and interest in participation.

4. Arithmetic : Skills in making
change, in buying stamps, and money
orders, and in measuring and weighing
were developed.

5. Manual Arts : Ingenuity and
initiative were stimulated in building
the post office and in making equip¬
ment, mail boxes, stamps, etc.

6. Fine Arts: The younger children
drew pictures of the simpler activities
involved in the post office project, for
example, how we visited the neighbor¬
hood post office; how Mary mailed a
letter in the corner postbox; how Billy
wrote a note inviting his cousin in In¬
diana to come and visit him; and how
we built our own post office. These
drawings were collected in a big book
which we called our Record, the Story
of Our Post Office.

7. Social Studies : History and Geo¬
graphy were also taught by drawings.
Some of the older children drew pic¬
tures showing adventures and incidents

connected with the early mails—com¬
paring the way mail was carried years
ago, in men’s hats, by pony express,
and by stagecoach, with modern trans¬
portation in airplanes, in trucks, and
by fast trains. Others made pictures,
coloring them with crayons, showing
how letters are carried in different
countries, for example, by skis in
Switzerland, and by dogsled in Alaska.
To dramatize these pictures we pasted
them together as film, unrolling them
in our home-made movie machine.

8. Domestic Art : A complete post¬
man ’s uniform was made.

9. Spelling: We wrote a post of¬
fice dictionary, adding new words to
our vocabularies, and learning how to
spell them.

10. Character Training: Out of
the discussion of traits necessary in the
postmaster and the postman came new
ideas of the importance of punctuality,
reliability, efficiency, co-operation, and
honesty.

When the unit was finished, we felt
that not only had new skills been de¬
veloped in practical activities and in
academic study, but the children had
also learned something about working
harmoniously together and co-operat¬
ing toward a definite objective. They
had learned, too, to appreciate the
work of others, they had gained self-
confidence, and they had been given
the opportunity to experience some of
the joys of creating.

Girl Scouting and the Physically
Handicapped

(Continued from Page 79)
cise program. To the girl it was
recreation, but to a physiotherapist it
was a treatment. Scouting could not
in any way replace individual treat¬
ment, as each girl mav have a differ-

92

JANUARY

DRAMATIZING UNCLE SAM’S POST OEE1CE

windows provided for selling- stamps,
mailing- letters, buying money orders,
and registering mail.

A building committee was chosen,
with John—a popular boy with a flair
for carpenter work—as chairman. This
committee was charged with the duty
of obtaining orange crates and other
boxes for building materials. Another
was to see that the structure was paint¬
ed, a third to make shingles for the
roof, while still another group was ap¬
pointed to paint signs for doors and
windows.

Soon everybody was busy; the room
buzzed with activity. The bidding com¬
mittee had brought in two dozen boxes
of which we could use but twelve, pre¬
senting the rest to pupils who said the
wood could be used at home. These
boxes were set up as foundation walls.
Strips of wood which the carpenter
teacher kindly let us have from the
shop were nailed, sloping, from a -wall
molding to form the roof. Sheets of
brown wrapping paper were painted to
represent stone walls. Shingles for the
roof were also made of brown paper,
cut and pasted together in layers.

For the windows, openings were left
in which semi-circles of pasteboard
were set and marked Money Orders,
Stamps, etc. We made a door for the
entrance, over which a large sign pro¬
claimed that here was a “U. S. Post
Office.”

Equipment

The building completed, additional
committees were appointed to make
stamps, paper money, envelopes, and
other accessories. The stamps were
made from long strips of paper cut to
regulation size, colored with different
crayons and labelled various prices.
The money was made from cardboard
in the shape of coins, ranging from one
to fifty cents. Envelopes were small

pieces of scratch paper folded and
pasted.

One working group made lock boxes
from old cigar boxes, cutting a slit in
the top and painting them black with
white lettering on the outside so as to
resemble as closely as possible those
we had seen at the real post office.

Two of the boys loaned us their
newspaper and magazine bags, to be
used for our postmen’s mail bags.

Billy made our cancelling stamp, a
square of wood a quarter of an inch
thick, with a handle also of wood, while
Bruce brought a discarded weighing
machine from home.

Outside the post office in the back
of the room had stood our Valentine
Box. This we decided to make into a
street mailbox, marking it “U. S.
Mail”, and placing it on a standard.
On it we pasted a white placard giv¬
ing hours of collection.

Selecting the Postmaster

Our post office was now ready to be
opened. But first we needed a post¬
master. We discussed the question and
concluded that several of the more cap¬
able pupils should take turns at serv¬
ing. Our postmaster, we said, have the
following qualifications.

He should be polite

He should be punctual

He must be reliable

He should be able to make change
correctly

He should be able to read satisfac¬
torily

He should be efficient

He should be honest

He should be helpful

Academic Outcomes op the Project

Study activities that grew out of
this post office unit were surprisingly

1938

91

CONTRIBUTION OF A SPEECH PROGRAM TO THE FIELD OF MENTAL HYGIENE

ent type of treatment; but there are
'times when it can be a most valuable
adjunct to treatment.

Conclusion. It may be seen from
this discussion that the English Scout¬
ing organization harmonizes with her
educational system and traditions and
that the work which has been accom¬
plished in the past eighteen years
lias been highly commendable. The
methods used in this country are adapt¬
ed to our educational system and are
meant to supplement the work of the
schools.

It was decided at the international
conference that the guiding aims of
all Scouting should be to bring the
handicapped Girl Scout in closer touch
with normal life, and to offer her a full
share in Scouting activities, especially
where she may be of service to others.

Contribution of a Speech Program to
the Field of Mental Hygiene

(Continued from Page 88)

fer. Good attitudes, understanding,
practice, and encouragement of students
will always bring positive results. A
teacher with a disagreeable or weak
voice may be seriously handicapped,
but au individual with a speech defect,
be it even a slight lisp, should never
receive an appointment to teach. Em¬
phasis on the newer type of education
should aid and abet the cause of good
speech and mental hygiene, and here
the teacher must educate the parent
and community to these newer and bet¬
ter ways of thinking and doing. Child
Guidance Conferences such as are be¬
ing carried on in California communi¬
ties are of great help in bringing to¬
gether mental hygiene and speech
teachers. The organization of these

conferences was primarily to inform
the school personnel regarding mental
hygiene.

Group instruction of pupils has now
become recognized as being very
valuable in speech correction work.
In the Journal of Nervous and
Mental Diseases for October 1935, Dr.
L. C. Marsh from Tucson, Arizona,
gives these advantages of group treat¬
ment as compared with individual
treatment:

1. Providing a therapeutic compul¬
sion

2. A helpful transference readily
broken

3. An educational and attractive set
up

4. Resistance more easily overcome

5. Enthusiasms engendered which
are not so prominent in private
treatment

6. Impersonality of situation makes
the patient more amenable to
treatment

Hygiene of the emotions, that is help¬
ing the child to acquire the correct
values of the affairs of life, and prac¬
tice in the expression of these emotions
are the two fundamental fields of edu¬
cational endeavor. With the introduc¬
tion of speech hygiene and training,
there will come to the educators a com¬
prehension of the foundations under¬
lying the speech reaction and a better
interpretation of it as an indicator of
the individual’s adaptability to his so¬
cial surroundings. 1

1 Lust paragraph is a quotation in part from
page 6 of Blanton and Blanton, Speech
Training for Children. New York: D. Apple-
ton-Century Co. Inc.

1938

93

JOURNAL OE EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN

Remedial Reading at it Pertains to the
Atypical Child

(Continued from Page 84)

for most of the poor readers in their
classrooms. I believe we have been
too ready to accept the alibi that teach¬
ers give, “I have tried everything.”
Our teachers in all grades need to know
how to teach reading and assume a full
share of their responsibilities in the
prevention and elimination of the poor
reader.

Remedial reading is not a question
of one method as superior to another.
No one method suggested by various
authors should, I believe, be used to
the exclusion of all others. Every
method, kinesthetic, phonetic, analytic,
or any other way that will reach the
needs of the child should be used. Good
readers make use of all methods de¬
pending on the particular need.

“Learning to read calls for co-opera¬

tion, power of sustained effort and
fidelity of facts.” It is not a general
ability but a number of rather special
abilities. The methods used must be
suited to the child, his problems, and
his abilities; the teacher must be under¬
standing and patient; there must be
no fear or tension; and interest must
be aroused before growth can be as¬
sured.

We must not forget, however, that
the educational goal for the mentally
retarded child should not be reading.
Why should the school worry a child
into an anti-social attitude in attempt¬
ing to make him a good reader when
his success in adult life will depend
more on courteous manners, intelligent
speech, erect carriage, and cleanliness
than on academic achievement? But if
he is capable of becoming literate it
should be a happy and profitable ex¬
perience which will make him a better
person iioav and always.

FOR THE FIRST TIME the Many and Varied Types of

HANDICRAFT

Heretofore Available in Widely Scattered Places
or Not Taught at All Are Correlated in

THE CRAFT SCHOOL, RIPON COLLEGE, RIPON, WISCONSIN

There Will Be Three Periods of Two Weeks Each
June 20-July 4-July 18, 1938

UNIQUE—Will Be the Forum Each Friday in Which Teachers

May Exchange Craft Ideas.

Some of the Courses Offered Are

Braiding and 'knotting, simple and complex weaving, soft sheet metal modeling, thin
wood craft, bead craft, chip carving fibre craft, clay modeling, theory and design in handi¬
craft, loom construction, amateur photography, games and game construction, leather craft,
marionettes, cork craft, paper craft, jewelry.

Just your name and address to the Craft School will bring you added information.

94

JANUARY

PAMPHLET s BIDDERS

This is No..

HJ ‘'mr

1523

1524

1525

1526

also carried in stock in the following sizes
HIGH WIDE THICKNESS

9 inches 7 inches inch
10

9

9 %

7

6

HIGH WIDE THICKNESS

1527 10^6 inches 7^$ inches inch

1528 11 " 8

1529 12 "10

1530 12 “ 9 % "

Other sizes made to order.

MANUFACTURED BY

LIBRARY BUREAU

Division of REMINGTON RAND INC.

Library supplies of all kinds