RE-EDUCATION OF THE DISABLED.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume LXX, Issue 146126, 5 December 1916, Page 4

RE-EDUCATION OF THE DISABLED.

Mr L. G. Brock contributes an important article to the ".Nineteenth Century" on the subject of the re-educa-tion of the disabled. The public generally, he remarks, lias not yet appreciated the urgency and the magnitude cd' the problem. It is important that the training of disabled soldiers in trades iv which they can hope to make a. livingshould begin at the earliest possible moment. The first step in their training is to restore their self-confidence, as a

man who regards himself as a helpless wreck will very soon become one. The French were (puck to recognise the importance of co-ordinating restoration of function with re-education. French experience has also established very clearly that the selection of the right type of teacher is vital. The ordinary technical instructor who understands his subjects but not his pupils is quite useless. The position of the rural worker presents obvious difficulties, but no effort should be spared to keep them on the land, and a good deal might be done by encouraging co-operative small holdings and by training disabled men for poultry farming and market gardening. One danger to be guarded against is the temptation to train the disabled for clerical employments, which after the war will be more overcrowded than ever.