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Indiana University Studies 



Without doubt 10 per cent of the school children need special instruc- 

 tion, and probably 2 to 3 per cent are feeble-minded. In this study (of the 

 children in the schools of one county in Indiana ) 2.5 per cent were found 

 to be three years or more retarded.* 



Morally, the mental defective is perhaps the greatest menace. 

 The moral sense Is said to exist in the higher brain centers and 

 if these are lacking or defective, the person is irresponsible and 

 is unmoral if not immoral. Moreover, statistics show that 80 

 per cent of the prostitutes are feeble-minded. Because of this fact, 

 however, responsible persons of normal mentality are often 

 excused of immorality on the ground that they must be defectives. 



The social worker who sees these defectives and knows the 

 problems they present realizes very strongly the need for insti- 

 tutional care. However, she also sees the beneficial results 

 obtained by careful supervision of them in the community. While 

 this is difficult and not altogether safe, the fact that there will 

 be large numbers which will not be cared for institutionally for 

 some time to come, no matter what legislation may be passed, 

 justifies her efi'orts. 



2. The Epileptic. The epileptic has a pathological condition 

 whose cause is unknown. He is subject to seizures during which 

 he loses consciousness and may fall wherever he is, often inflicting 

 serious injury. There are certain mental manifestations which 

 accompany these attacks which make the social aspects of the dis- 

 ease very important. 



There have been many theories as to the cause of epilepsy: 

 alcoholism of parents at the time of the conception of the child; 

 infectious disease of either or both parents, as tuberculosis or 

 syphilis; injury during labor or delivery; infectious disease in 

 infancy of patient, as spinal meningitis ; head injury of patient. 

 However, none of these has been authoritatively accepted as the 

 general cause, tho each may be demonstrated in individual cases. 

 As no successful medical social case work can be done without 

 diagnosis and a knowledge of the cause of disease, the social 

 worker is handicapped by the lack of medical knowledge on this 

 subject. 



The presence of the epileptic in the household presents a 

 serious problem. In the first place the economic situation is 

 handicapped if the person is an adult, for he cannot be a success- 

 ful wage-earner. He cannot be trusted to work with machinery 



* Second Report of the Committee on Mental Defectives in Indiana, March 6, 1919, 

 p. 32. 



