DR. CARLSON’S VISIT

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25446, 18 March 1948, Page 3

DR. CARLSON’S VISIT

SPASTIC PARALYSIS TREATMENT

LECTURES IN CHRISTCHURCH limitations uto° a f D » t ? ad «««* cerphrai r-s-ieJr z applied to cases of tionists and others interested in dete? cadabnitiA 6 ln . teUe = tual and physical see??no r t C „ h H w P r i®rs overseas -were to show 1116 reme H tal and muscular 'soS Thero g patle ,nts. said Dr. Carlcans whf a multiplicity of handiMlsv h inni?i lght result £rom cerebral l ( idlng imperfect speech, ne^SF g ’ reading, or writing. ? wh °lefield of education can be E,,K“ st “;S case ? 01 cerebral ? . Carlson said— “It amounts hL a JP“ ld trying to find its body.” As the link was strengthened by educaa^^ vit y became more purposeiul and patients could often take a us ™ . Pl ace m society. To impart a sense of security and to encourage relaxation were important aims in treatment. Fear, anxiety, and self consciousness often caused tension which resulted in patients going to pieces. &

~ A sense of worth was so important that too much attention could not be paid to the choice of suitable activity for those being helped. He recalled one girl who was so sensitive about her affliction that she was incapable of any useful activity in public; but she was now doing fine work teaching the blind. Another of his patients could play the piano excellently (her mind being taken off her muscular limitations), yet she could not feed herself. Others with physical handicaps had secured university degrees. Dr. Carlson urged the establishment of special schools to assist sufferers from cerebral paralysis so that they could enter normal activity as soon as possible and thus not feel out of place, and also instruction for parents who often increased tension by their natural anxiety. In a lecture at the Canterbury University College hall last evening, Dr. Carlson said that a sufferer from cerebral paralysis had his difficulties accentuated when he was faced with new situations. Thus children were handicapped when they began study at ordinary schools. It was desirable that a child should have a few months at a special school before beginning an orthodox education. If more teachers were sympathetic to cases of cerebral palsy, more sufferers from the malady could be educated. A child should have access to specialist therapeutic and psychiatric treatment, and experts should embark on studies in the special disabilities encountered. Education for the cerebral palsied should have the same place as that for the blind and the deaf. * , Dr. Carlson screened a series of moving pictures illustrating the treatment and education of spastic paralysis cases under the methods which he has developed in the United States. He was not in favour of a central clinic or training institution in New Zealand for spastics, said Dr. Carlson in reply to a question at the conclusion of the meeting. He would prefer the establishment of provincial clinics, as it was not satisfactory to have too many cases in one institution.

Upwards of 300 persons, including many representatives of the medical and teaching professions, attended the lecture. Mr J. Leslie Will, president of the Christchurch branch of the New Zealand Crippled Children Society, presided.