Problems of Teaching and Bringing up Children Suffering from Nervous and Mental Disorders

The development of separate schools attached to Health Institutions entails a number of special didactic and pedagogical problems. The authors, one working as a teacher and the other as a psychologist at the Child Neurology and Psychiatry Department, describe the way of teaching children suffering from various nervous and mental disorders at the In-Patients Department. They proceed in their work from the underlying disorder and the resulting mental changes, and from the daily routine of the Health Institution. The establishment of pedagogical contact, which is the basic condition for a successful educational and instructional work with the patients, necessitates an understanding of the peculiarities of their behaviour and the choice of a suitable tactic on the part of the teacher. After testing the patients’ knowledge, the teacher chooses, in agreement with the doctor and taking into account the psychological diagnosis, the most suitable type of educational and instructional work. The educational influence makes itself felt throughout the child’s stay in the Department. They suggest some aspects of bringing up children with neurotic disorders in their behaviour.
The authors believe that their experiences, gained in teaching and bringing up patients suffering from nervous and mental disorders, may be of use to teachers of the General Educational Schools because they draw the teachers’ attention to the causes of some classroom failures and their connectition with the over-all condition of the pupils’ health. They may also facilitate the gradual transition of pupils to normal schools after their hospital treatment has ended.