“Every One of Them Are Worth It”: Blanche Van Leuven Browne and the Education of the “Crippled Child”

Many rights struggles have promoted education and learning as proof of citizenship and capacity, and disability rights movements are no exception. Blanche Van Leuven Browne, one early twentieth-century polio survivor, reimagined the possibilities of education for “crippled children” by approaching schooling as not only preparation for vocational work but as a sign of disabled children's social worthiness. This article explores the role of education in Browne's life and work, from her childhood in the 1880s to the Detroit hospital-school for physically disabled children she operated from 1907 to 1918. Browne's educational approach emphasized writing and citizenship to (re)define the identity of the “crippled child,” envisioning each as an intelligent future citizen. This approach contrasted with predominant contemporary medical, philanthropic, and educational approaches, which emphasized medical care and vocational training for children with orthopedic disabilities. It also distanced physically disabled children from intellectually disabled children, who were key cultural targets of eugenic fears.

The Creation of Particular Learning Methods for Blind Children

The aim of the research is to provide a disseminate view on the methods for learning for visually impaired children. The economic factors along with psycho-social aspects have impacted blind education in India. Due to the lesser number of population, not impacting much on the productivity of the state, visually impaired children suffer the consequence of social and political ignorance leading to incomplete education and illiteracy. The current research is based on thematic analysis of the information gathered from literature review. As per the research it can be concluded that the role of family, specialized teachers and schools for special education in educating blind children is crucial for their academic achievement, building good grades which would further contribute to their employment. With several innovations on learning techniques, Braille method has always been the oldest and common used. Apart from Braille the use of virtual reality method for spatial knowledge have been quite frequently used to teach blind children. It can be recommended that in order to fit into the cut-throat competition of achieving educational success for future progression, it is equally important to educate physically disabled children by making them specially-abled through several learning techniques utilizing other skills apart from visualization.

PREVALENCE OF MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS AMONG THE CARE GIVERS OF PHYSICALLY DISABLED CHILDREN

BACKGROUND AND AIMS It has been estimated that 14-17% of the cases referred to primary care consultations are related to musculoskeletal disorders. The study was aimed to determine prevalence of Work Related Musculoskeletal disorder among care givers of physically handicapped children. METHOD The study includes a sample size of 187 caregivers of physically handicapped children. Two differently self-designed questionnaires were used to gather information from the clinician and the parents separately. The data was collected only once from the participants. It was assured that the data would be used only for research purpose, prior consent was taken before administering the questionnaire.