RETARDED SIXTH GRADE PUPILS.*

By Anna Johnson,

Wkittier School (for Retarded Children), Denver, Colorado.

In speaking of these retarded children who have come under my supervision this year, I desire to say that, with the -exception of two pupils, I consider them all normal, physically.

These two I have mentioned as exceptions have failed to reach the required minimum of efficiency which would have enabled them to continue in the regular grades, not because they are abnormal

mentally, but because of illness that has kept them out of school; also they are both handicapped through defective hearing. All the

others who have failed to stand the test of the course of study have done so for various reasons other than physical ones.

The reasons, so far as I can ascertain, are truancy, slow mental development, excessive cigarette smoking, lack of application to their school work, in some cases vicious dispositions which have made them difficult cases to discipline, and the moving about of the family from place to place. About one-fourth of them are retarded because

of mental inability to grasp the main subjects prescribed in the school curriculum, although even they are bright along some lines. The

other retarded ones are both physiologically and psychologically normal.

I have had this year an average number of twenty-three pupils belonging; an average daily attendance of about 96 per cent. The

average age of these children on entering last September was fifteen

years. The grade entered was the sixth grade June class. At the

end of this school year one pupil will have completed three grades, three pupils two and one-half grades, five two grades, six one and one- half grades, and six one grade.

So far as mental activities go I have found the truant children

very bright. They all have had a wide experience outside of school

subjects, and they have proved themselves capable of assimilating their experiences and adjusting them to their studies, especially in geography, history, composition and reading.

Among the several cases of retardation that come under truancy and irregular attendance, I wish to state that there has been only one case of truancy in my room this year, and that was caused by discordant home conditions rather than any dislike for school on the

* A report to the Superintendent of Schools, Denver, Col., June; 1913.

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162 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC.

part of the pupil. However he was absent only two days and has not repeated the act. These truant children have been the most

regular in attendance, many of them scarcely missing a single day during the school year. They all come under the list of those that have completed more than one year's work.

There were a few special cases of truancy beginning with a pupil who finished the work of three grades. On entering school last September his age was 15 years and 6 months. This pupil had been under the discipline of the Juvenile Court for the past two years. On account of his truancy and the periodical migration of the family he had spent from six weeks to three months in school each year from the time he was eight years old, this being his age on entering the first grade. When he entered the Retarded School he came with

a certificate for the February fourth grade. Through error in assign- ment he was placed in the sixth grade. When the error was discov-

ered I had a talk with the boy about it, assuring him that he could do the work of the grade if he would come every day and do the very best he could. This he promised to do, and he kept his word. From

the first day of school until the second week of February, when the family moved out into the country, he had been absent only three days, and those on account of illness. As far as discipline is con- cerned the boy seemed almost hopeless. He had the most vicious

temper I have ever seen; he really was to be feared at times. He

did not sit, stand, walk, or talk like any other pupil in the room, always assuming a defiant manner; and as for obedience, it was simply a negative quantity so far as he was concerned. However, he found no blind obedience exacted of him, no punishments planned for him; and he learned that fallibility was not considered a crime.

I soon discovered that this boy had the innate sagacity to respond to the joyous spontaneous expressions of the class; hence, in a short time he settled down to the right attitude toward his school work. I found that his truant wandering days had been profitably spent in accumulating knowledge, which he soon worked over into a very fine finished product for the school-room. He had more practical knowledge than any child I ever saw. He never read a lesson more

than once, and could make the brightest recitation in the room. He

was an omnivorous reader, and read every book I could find for him, besides reading extensively from the Public Library. The only thing he had to work hard for was his arithmetic. Sometimes he

worked three hours a day on it. When he left for the country he was beginning eighth grade work. A few days ago I saw his mother who told me that he had passed the eighth grade county examination, and hoped to enter high school next fall.

RETARDED SIXTH GRADE PUPILS. 163

In another case of professional truancy the boy has completely reformed. This boy had spent two years in every grade beginning with the third grade. He would stay out of school weeks at a time, and when in school would not apply himself to any single subject. When he entered the Retarded School in the sixth grade he could not have done creditable work in a regular fourth grade. He did not seem

to have a liking for anything in the line of school activities. He had

never read a book in his life outside of the school reader; it was

positively painful to listen to his reading. While reading a variety of stories to the children, I found that he would listen most attentively to myths, therefore I seized the opportunity and supplied him with that class of literature until he had mastered the mechanical ability to read and incidentally acquired a love for it. The result was that

by December he was reading one book a week from the school library. He now reads well and it is a pleasure to listen to him. All his other

subjects have improved in proportion. At the end of the year he

will have finished the work of one and one-half grades. Best of all, he has developed into a strong, trustworthy, self-reliant boy. During the whole year he has been absent three days, and those on account of illness.

There has also been marked improvement towards reform in two cases of excessive cigarette smoking. These two boys at the

beginning of the year smoked from five to fifteen cigarettes a day. They insisted upon leaving the room two and three times during the

morning session, and this I found was for the purpose of smoking. After assuring them that there was no punishment in store for them, and that I would not tell, they told me what they were doing, also showed me their supply of cigarettes. They gradually stopped their

smoking within the vicinity of the school. If there is any smoking done now by these boys it is done before and after school; but I have

every reason to believe that very little of it is done, judging from their

changed physical appearance. In the fall when they entered school

they were two nervous anemic-looking boys, with a faculty for nothing but restlessness. Now they are a pair of healthy-looking youngsters who are not afraid to look you in the eye and tell you how they have cut down their cigarette ration. They are also good workers and have made great progress in their studies.

I wish to speak of two special cases in which too much discipline or the lack of discipline has been the chief cause of retardation. The first case is that of a boy whose age was sixteen years when he entered school last September. As near as I can find out he was about

seven years old when he first went to school. He had been nine years

reaching the sixth grade. All along the line he had been a source of

164 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC.

trouble, never adjusting himself to anything but mischief. His

attendance at school has always been regular, his health perfect, and he is not mentally deficient. His whole being seemed full of negative elements; he seemed to glory in doing the thing one did not wish him to do. He had had so many punishments during his brief span of life that he had lost all sense of proportion as to right and wrong. After studying him for a few days I had a long talk with him. I

told him that thenceforth he must take care of himself; that I did not intend to rebuke or condemn him, for he was to be responsible for his own conduct as well as for the conduct of the room. He gradually learned to control himself. He found that his feelings were always considered, hence he became sensitive to my wishes that he should do right. He has a great capacity for responding to kindness and loves to see people happy. I have found an infinite amount of goodness in this boy, and have myself learned many moral lessons from him. His best study is arithmetic. This study we boomed from the begin- ning and gradually worked the others in. At the end of the year he will have completed two grades. He is a great reader, and has done research work for his class, both in history and geography. His manual training has improved in proportion to his other school work. This boy has reached such a degree of self-control that I am sure he will fit into the many-sided activities of school and life.

The other case of difficult discipline is that of a boy who last

year was under the supervision of the Juvenile Court for the simple reason that he would not behave in school. He had to report on his conduct every week. The only thing that kept him within the bounds of corrigibility was fear of the Detention Home and the Reform School. He seemed so destitute of fine feelings for one so young that he made a positively gruesome impression. The first month of school

he did nothing so far as prescribed school work was concerned, but he did errands for me, helped me pass supplies, and assisted in keep- ing the school room clean. This gave him a great deal of pleasure and established confidential relations among all concerned. He was

not asked to submit to any stringent rules. He had many directions

given him, some corrections, but no punishments. I think he missed

the punishments and moral lectures that he had been accustomed to, but when they were not forthcoming the only thing for him to do was to fall in line and join in the same activities with which the others of the class were occupied. This he did. He was tired of standing out as a distinct type, and while he has not made great strides

intellectually he has developed a great deal of self-expression along the right lines.

From the time he first entered school until this year he had spent

RETARDED SIXTH GRADE PUPILS. 165

two years in each grade, with the exception of the second grade. This year he will finish creditably one grade, and I am sure that the

high degree of self-respect which he has attained will keep him from

dropping back into his apparently outgrown habits. In behalf of the other retarded children whom I have had in

my room this year, I want to say that there has not been a single failure among them, either in scholarship or conduct. There has

been a marked and strong improvement in all of them, especially along the lines of conduct, and after all that is one of the most avail- able tests of education.