TRAINING THE HANDICAPPED

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32303, 22 May 1970, Page 4

TRAINING THE HANDICAPPED

| English Course ‘Not ’ Suited To N.Z.’ i J A two-year experimental 3 training course in agriculture 2 for 16 to 26-year-old intel4 lectually handicapped people in Somerset, England, which ; has shown some promising i results after one year, would jjnot be suited to New Zealand said Miss M. Farrow,' i principal of the Cashmere 1 i Hohepa Home for the Inteli lectually Handicapped. i The success of the scheme 1 • depended on the degree of j she said. She i thought the English course • had brighter intellectually ' i handicapped people. In New Zealand, the people working Hon specially supervised farms Jjwere those with I.Q.’s mostly! >I under 60, and were not ij trained for normal jobs. ! I "They have an idealistic environment where the joy of the job is most important,” said Miss Farrow. "They each contribute to the community j in some way and have a dig- I nity of labour. They have: companionship while getting; satisfaction and enjoyment from life.” Ten intellectually handi-, capped young men live and work on the Farndon Farm School at Clive, near Napier. 'Supervised by Mr P. Proctor, ■they practise biodynamic ! mixed-farming, using simple,! natural, old - fashioned i methods. The boys, who are given jobs according to their ability, keep pigs and hens, grow their own vegetables and animal feed, have orchards, and make their own compost. As well as supplying their farm, fruit and produce is given to the nearby Hohepa Home School, which has 30 children, and the Wharerangi Home School, which has 30 are taught gardening and craftwork. j