Read this article to learn about Child Abnormalities and Their Treatment. After reading this article you will learn about: 1. Introduction to Child Abnormalities 2. Neurosis – Child Abnormality Disease 3. Causes 4. Remedial Measures 5. Cause of Schizophrenia 6. Modification of Racial Attitude 7. Feeble-Mindedness.
Contents:
- Introduction to Child Abnormalities
- Neurosis – Child Abnormality Disease
- Causes of Child Abnormality
- Remedial Measures for Child Abnormality
- Cause of Schizophrenia – Child Abnormality Disease
- Modification of Racial Attitude towards Abnormal Children
- Feeble-Mindedness – Child Abnormality Disease
1. Introduction to Child Abnormalities:
There are children who apparently strike as abnormal. Physical abnormalities can be perceived at first sight. If a child is dwarfed or short for his age, or is abnormally tall; is too much overweight or underweight, will immediately be recognised as such.
If the bones or muscles have not developed normally in due course, the fact will easily be perceived without any diagnostic exercise. But there are a number of other types of physical or bodily abnormalities for the perception of which expert diagnosis will be required.
The deficiency of some particular vitamin or of any other ingredient, of hemoglobin, or of excess of some particular fluid secreted from some hormonal gland and so on, requires some expert investigation for its diagnosis.
Deficiency of a serious nature, as that of iodine, for example, may result in serious physical, intellectual and emotional abnormalities, too.
There may be some prenatal factors responsible for physical deformity or abnormality.
Some diseases are caused because of the genes carrying hereditary effects; or, because of malnutrition of the prospective mother; or, because of her tension, anxiety or a sense of insecurity disturbing physiological functions of the mother; or, because of biochemical changes (excessive secretion of adrenaline glands and increase of chemicals such as acetylcholine and epinephrine and so on).
With the result that the embryo/ foetus, getting its feeding from the blood of the mother through umbilical chord, is affected, and physical growth may be adversely affected. A mongoloid may be born if the number of chromosomes increases by one more than the normal.
Unhygienic living conditions and malnutrition are both prenatal and postnatal factors which affect the physical and so also the mental and emotional health of the child.
A home characterised by routine brawling, father being too busy to chat and play with, or fondle the child, and the mother is also an insensitive working woman or is herself ill, or remains tense and fearful because of unwholesome home environment, cannot take care of the physical needs—feeding, clothing, elimination and so on, of the child, nor, of its emotional need which is affectionate nurturance.
The child’s health may be affected because of obstetrical troubles; or, because of inadequate oxygen in the labour room; the latter situation may cause asphyxia. Even after birth if the physical conditions of the house is not hygienic, that is, if no proper ventilation, light and sanitary system is there, the child cannot remain healthy.
If feeding to the child is not made timely and with affection, in a pleasant mood; proper care regarding the elimination and cleanliness of the child is not taken; proper clothing is not provided according to the weather conditions, and the bodily need of the child; and if the child is not provided a congenial environment for having its full stint of sleep with no disturbance whatsoever—the child cannot develop normally in its physique.
And, such a child would develop the habit of crying, squirming; and of spitting out its food when the same is belatedly given and in not a happy mood. If such a one grows up as aggressive in nature, these situations of his infancy may be a cause.
Some cases of imagined or of a slight defect in appearance, have been reported leading to devastating disorder. Body dysmorphic disorder, in some cases, led to dropping of school, shunning social contacts, and even to suicide.
Awakening to just reasoning, is the only remedy to such a disorder. In this article we shall take only some serious types of psychological abnormalities; have a look into their causes in brief, and, suggest remedies. Some of the abnormalities that have been mentioned above may be remedied if the causes leading to abnormalities are removed at the initial stage.
2. Neurosis – Child Abnormality Disease:
Etymologically, “neurosis” means “disorder of nervous system”. The word has been developed from the Greek term “neuron” which means “nerve”. Its apparent symptoms are “irrational behaviour” and “depression”. A neurotic person is found to be abnormally anxious or obsessed with something.
I remember of an acquaintance of mine, who whenever happened to come across me, would appear highly troubled or puzzled, he would continuously complain of one or the other problem haunting him. It was not the case that his anxiety was always genuine many times he would be jittery only in connection with imagined reasons.
To grow anxious had been his mental habit which he could hardly improve upon. Just an idea would come to his mind, and he would be so obsessed with it that he could not find respite.
I would like to refer to a colleague of mine to illustrate how a neurotic behaves. We were travelling together in a train. Each was accompanied by wife. That colleague of mine was sitting just in front of me. He had put a bag of his on the wooden slab meant for the purpose; the bag was in front of him, and was above my seat. He would rise from his seat off and on touch his bag to be assured that it was safe.
Now, his obsession for the bag was unreasonable, his jitters for its safety were without a genuine cause. The same colleague of mine once sought my help in getting a shirt of his sewn. I sent for a tailor. He noted the measurement.
But, as soon as the tailor, after putting into his pocket the slip of measurement noted upon it, and the piece of cloth in his hand, climbed down the stairs, my colleague desired me to call back the tailor. On my asking “why”, he replied, the tailor might sew a shirt not fitting to the size of his body.
Both instances given above illustrate how a neurotic person behaves, and what type of psychology he has:
1. He remains anxious even when the reason may not be a genuine one.
2. He fears of things which actually evoke no fear for a normal person.
3. He remains troubled mostly for no reason to be so. He cannot have peace of mind.
4. Such a person is not likely to enjoy a sound sleep, and have a full stint of it.
5. Because of such an obsession of jitters and fear, he would lose both his mental and physical health, and would become a patient of some psychiatrist.
6. Such a person would not be having that much of vigour or mental zest that he may persevere long and properly for the performance of some serious and important mental work.
7. Depression would be a general symptom of a neurotic.
8. If a survey may possibly be conducted into the cases of suicide, majority of those who commit it, would be found to have been neurotics.
3. Causes of Child Abnormality:
(i) If during the period of pregnancy, the prospective mother had been suffering from a feeling of insecurity; would have been anxious or tense due to the unwholesome home environment, and, especially because of the rough or harsh treatment meted out to her by her husband who may often have been inebriated, or because of her ill-health and low socioeconomic status of the family, or so on, would give birth to a child prone to neurosis.
(ii) If the child is a result of unwanted delivery; the mother is a stepmother, or for any reason she fails to give a sense of security and warmth of affection, the child would grow neurotic.
(iii) A child may grow traumatic because of obstetrical complexities.
(iv) If both father and mother are too busy to attend to the needs of the child in time and in a happy mood, the psychology of the neglected child would be distorted, and the result may be neurosis.
(v) Too harsh toilet-training to a babe who is still not two years old, would make it tense and fearful.
(vi) A sense of insecurity is the main cause for neurosis. When the child first attends his nursery, he experiences too much tension. To adjust to an altogether new situation, where there are so many unfamiliar faces behaving in a strange way with the new entrant; and over it all, if the teacher is of a serious or frowning kind, would be very difficult.
If such a situation continues for long, the child would be greatly disturbed mentally, and, the traumatized child may grow into a neurotic for his whole life.
(vii) A long period of hospitalization may also harm the psychology of the child, and if, his aftermath experiences are also not good, he is very likely to be neurotic.
(viii) Body dysmorphic disorder may also make the child shy and withdrawn, and the eventual result may, sometime be neurosis.
(ix) Experience of some riot or any such event presenting scenes of gruesome killings, or undergoing some terror-evoking incidence, or the death of one’s dear and near one, may so upset and horrify the mind of the child that he may never be free from its traumatizing effect.
(x) An innocent child if happens to have been physically or sexually- abused, may also grow neurotic. Physical abuse has been defined by Gil’ in the words “… the intentional non-accidental use of force on the part of the parent or other caretaker interacting with child in his or her care aimed at hurting, injuring or destroying that child”.
Kempe defines the sexual abuse; as under:
“… The involvement of dependent, sexually immature children and adolescents in sexual activities that they do not fully comprehend, to which they are unable to give informed consent or that violate the social taboos of family roles.”
4. Remedial Measures for Child Abnormality:
Psychotherapy:
Psychotherapy provides the child a free atmosphere where he can express himself with no fear of being punished, rebuked or laughed at. For the success of psychotherapy, the first thing that is needed, is a very cordial and close relationship between the child and the therapist. Even the teacher may work as a therapist.
The child must be treated with regard and dignity. Dollard and Miller write that psychotherapy is basically a learning process for adopting attitudes and behaviour which may replace less adequate responses learned in the family setting. It is for unlearning the undesirable behaviour or habits, and for learning non-neurotic habits.
Techniques of Therapy:
Play therapy is an important technique which helps the child in releasing his feelings, and expressing his problem.
Axline underlines the importance of this therapy with the words as follows:
“Play therapy is based upon the fact that play is the child’s natural medium of self-expression. It is an opportunity which is given to the child to play out his feelings and problems just as in certain types of adult therapy, an individual talks out his difficulties”
When the feelings are played out, they become open on the surface. Now, he develops the habit of facing them openly. He learns to control them without being mentally perturbed. He; may even abandon them. The feelings which, previously, he was so afraid of their being there in his mind, he has developed courage to face them in the open.
Play therapy has provided emotional relaxation to him. He starts realising power within himself, and finds himself to be an individual in his own right. He feels that now he can think for himself, he is free and able enough to have his own decisions. Such a therapy helps one in achieving timely maturity, and self-hood.
5. Cause of Schizophrenia – Child Abnormality Disease:
A sense of insecurity is the main cause of schizophrenia. The baby feels insecure when either or both of the parents are punitive, are sometimes indulgent and sometimes unnecessarily harsh. The behaviour of the elder sibling may also cause a sense of insecurity.
When the need of feeding of the baby is not timely fulfilled, and the child has to cry for long, it starts feeling insecure. If care is not often taken in regard to elimination and other needs for the health and protection of the child, even because of that also a sense of insecurity is engendered.
Schizophrenia may also be caused when the family environment is not peaceful and wholesome because of frequent brawls between father and mother, because of the father being a drunkard, and of his beating the mother or other members of the family.
If the home environment is not stimulating enough, and a sense of belongingness is not there among the members of the family; the child does not enjoy a parent’s warmth towards it; would feel neglected, and the child would have to keep itself lying idle with no smile on his face nor on those of the others.
If the nursery teacher is not sensitive enough towards the child who is already too much disturbed because of being suddenly weaned out of the warm and protective environment of home.
Or, rather, the teacher is rough and harsh in her treatment towards the new entrant, such a fear would be caused that the child will be constrained to remain silent and lonely— as he has still not been able to adjust itself to other children of his class either. Such a situation may lead to the development of schizophrenia.
Some highly unpleasant event of life may cause someone to be shocked into schizophrenia, one is traumatized because of such an event.
If a child is often rebuked to silence by someone elder to him; the child would lose courage to express himself in future, with the result, the child may grow either neurotic or schizophrenic in the long-run because of continuous repression of feelings and emotions. Even cruel treatment meted out to a girl at her in-laws, if continued for long, may leave the girl schizophrenic.
Remedy for Schizophrenia:
The best remedy is the warm and loving treatment meted out to the patient so that the patient may again be assured of his safety.
A schizophrenic patient should never be left alone for long though he would like to be so. The patient should get an environment where he may be kept engaged in conversation on some pleasant topic. The patient should never be reminded of the past, particularly, which has not been pleasant for him.
An attempt should be made to attract the patient towards some hobby so that his diversion towards the world of his fantasy would be less likely.
The patient needs always, to be persuaded to contact members of the family and other acquaintances so that he would not remain lonely, as loneliness always precipitates the problem.
The patient may be taken out on excursions, or to some other place with congenial environment to stay there for some time so that he may be dissociated from the environment which is responsible for the problem.
The psychotherapy, as suggested above for the treatment of a neurotic, is also effective in curing a schizophrenic, either or both of the approaches- Directive and Non-directive—may be tried. Fearfulness in its extreme form makes one’s behaviour abnormal, and one suffering from it cannot lead a normal life.
It also has its root in infancy, or susceptibility to it may have prenatal origin. During the period when the child is still in the form of a foetus, if the prospective mother remains tense or jittery, the future child is definitely to be affected by it, as the chemical biology of the blood of the mother is changed because of tension or anxiety; and the child is fed through that blood.
If the child is the result of unwanted delivery, it may also be a factor in causing it. A child traumatized because of obstetrical complexities, may also grow fearful.
After birth, if the home environment continues to be tense because of noisy squabbles going on as a common routine; because of rebuking, scolding, beating, crying and so on, being a general experience of the child, the child would develop fearfulness.
Experience of long hospitalizations, and that of operation, injection, or of some hard restrictions that the doctor may deem essential to prescribe, may also make the child timid.
A child, because of his age, happens to be very curious, and would go on asking many questions to acquaint himself with his environment; but when in reply, the child is often silenced through words of rebuke, the child may grow timid or fearful in expressing himself, in talking to others, in meeting others—and the timid child may even grow neurotic or schizophrenic if no timely cure is there.
The causes of fearfulness as mentioned above, are the genuine ones, but fearfulness may also be caused because of imaginary reasons. In a study, Jersild and Markey found 20 per cent of the children’s fears to be unrealistic—imaginary creatures, the dark, and being alone.
Some children cannot go into dark, and if asked why, they may tell of ghost or of some such imaginary things which they may have been told of living in the dark just to make them silent while crying, or to dissuade them from doing what they may have been insisting upon doing.
Dunlop classifies the fears of children into four categories:
(i) Realistic, that is, could have happened to the child.
(ii) Remote—not much chances of happening.
(iii) Unrealistic—no chances of happening.
(iv) Mystical—where everything is shrouded with mystery, no basis for being definite about the cause.
An unpleasant experience of childhood may leave one fearful for life in a particular situation. If a child was severely slapped for eating some sweet without permission, it may lead to phobia for sweet, and when that child has grown into an adult, even then the very sight of sweet, may make him shiver with fear.
Most kinds of fears, in most cases, disappear as the child grows older. The development of the faculty of reasoning also helps one in being free from the feeling of fear. Parents or elders should appeal, too, the reasoning of the child if fearfulness continues even during the period of formal operations, as Piaget has termed the period when the child attains the adult level of reasoning.
Through arguments the child may be convinced that his fear is quite imaginary or unfounded.
The insecure child would, naturally, grow timid; in such a case die child needs convincing assurance of safety by his nurturants. In many cases, a feeling of insecurity engenders because of lack of care or affection from the side of parents or elder siblings.
In such a situation, the warmth of affection of the person nurturing the child is the only effective cure. The child recently admitted into a nursery, would grow fearful or timid if the teacher there is rough and harsh.
Such a teacher cannot be expected to be sensitive to the fact that the child just weaned from the over-protective and warm environment of the home, is already much disturbed, and, needs parental affection to be assured of safety.
Anxiety:
An all-time or frequent obsession of anxiety is something abnormal; it often, leads to other serious types of abnormalities such as neurosis and schizophrenia. Tendency to anxiety may either be the result of circumstances which do not augur well for the future of the child, and, he may be feeling a mental strain brooding the harm to be caused, or, the danger to occur.
Or sometimes the parents or elders of the family, or the teacher at the Kindergarten may be instrumental in the child being anxious. The targets fixed by them may be too ambitious, and so, too difficult for the child to achieve.
And, such unrealistic targets, rather, harm the child; he ceases to behave in a normal way because of tension caused by anxiety. If over-ambitious parents expect too high scholastic achievements from their child, it is just possible that because of constant mental strain, he may not even achieve that much which he otherwise would have done.
Likewise, in the field of motor activities, or in the field of intellectual activities, or in regard to the planning for the career of the child, if the attitude of guardians or teachers is not realistic, anxiety would be the result. It may cause loss of appetite, and so emaciation.
Because of excessive parental love and their severe prohibition on aggressive and sexual behaviour, an adolescent, would feel constant strain and anxiety. Temptation to lie, to hit and to masturbate may arouse a sense of guilt in the adolescent, or in a child of school-going age—it causes mental tension, and anxiety haunts him. If such a condition continues for long, the behaviour of the child may grow abnormal.
In some cases health or body-condition may be source of anxiety. If one is not normal in weight and height, or is not well-built, or good-looking, comparing to others who have been endowed with a good looking and a well-proportioned and stout body, would always be thinking about the means to improve upon his physical drawbacks.
Ailment or poor-health would be considered a genuine ground for anxiety. In such a case, effective treatment ought to be arranged by the parents.
And, in case of anxiety regarding body-structure, or bodily condition, if all measures to improve the same have failed, the child’s anxiety may be mitigated by telling him that if in some aspects he is poorly endowed, he is better than others in other respects, his strengths need to be highlighted, and he be cheered up for his achievements.
When grown-up enough, an appeal to his reasoning, should also be made to lighten or remove his anxiety. Again, play therapy is useful here also.
Prejudice:
Prejudice to some extent is, perhaps, unavoidable; but when the same grows in excess, the behaviour of the person appears abnormal. We criticize a grown-up for his prejudice, and do not do so in case of a child because the behaviour of a child does not so much influence others. During childhood, the impact of the attitudes of the adults of the family happens to be very strong and lasting.
The adults say about and behave with others as per their attitudes towards them. The child imbibes like attitude towards the same persons, or persons of the same group or class.
If the mother of a girl often speaks ill of her mother-in-law, blaming the very institution of mother-in-law, the impact of this would be in the form of prejudice, and, when the girl herself is married, she would go to her in-laws with a prejudiced attitude towards her own mother-in-law. Thus, a child can easily grow prejudiced against certain categories of persons through generalisation.
Communal hatred or racial hatred is thus permanently ingrained into a child because of the hatred and hostility of the parents and other elders against people belonging to other religions or race. Thus, traditional hostility is the main source of prejudice. Prejudice means pre-judgment about other persons, institutions, castes, religions and so on, without first observing or assessing the same for their good or bad points.
Thus, the judgment of a prejudiced person can never be just or objective. Such a person has his opinions ready-made about persons, organisations, events and so on, before he comes in contact with them. His opinions do not happen to be based on his observations or on the facts that are there, but they happen to be based on pre-conceived thoughts which others have caused to be instilled into his mind.
A lot many problems of our society, and I can say, of the international community, are because of prejudice. If a child belonging to one religion hates the other belonging to a different religion, it is not because of his personal experience of the other, it is the product of the prevailing milieu.
A lot many clashes or battles may be having their roots in some or the other sort of prejudice. A lot of blood-shedding may have been because of prejudice. Coming to our personal relations, in many cases, they grow bitter because of pre-conceived opinions that are prejudice. In a good many family clashes, prejudice may be the main culprit.
Prejudice is thus a distorted mind-set, we the grown-ups have a moral duty to save our future generation from being a prejudiced lot—the children being very impressionable, are easy to fall a prey to this mental ailment.
If A has been telling his children against B with no serious fault of B the children would grow prejudiced against B; and no amount of good deeds done by B even for the children of A, can change the children’s opinion for B.
The children of minority groups inherit a fear of hostile prejudice and rejection from their peers and adults. Children acquire prejudice from those with whom they identify themselves. They identify themselves with their parents and with their sub-cultural groups, that is, religious, ethnic or racial groups.
Bigoted people are the product of prejudiced and fundamentalist parents or society. We are witness to it, and history provides umpteen numbers of examples how the bigots have been butchering and shedding blood of the innocent.
In a society with the majority being consisted of bigots, democracy cannot thrive. If we look at the political scenario of the world, we see that there are nations where democracy either fails to have its birth, and, even if it has had its birth, its life always happens to be of a short duration.
School-going age is the period of life when the children identify themselves most with their parents and sub-cultural groups. Years back (1974), Clark and Clark in a study of 253 Negro children found that with increase in age, the percentage of children who identified themselves with Negro idols, increased.
When the children were asked, “Give me the doll that looks like you”; 36 per cent of the 3-year-old, 48 per cent of the 5-year-old, and 87 per cent of the 7-year-old children chose the coloured dolls. This study proves that mid-childhood years, is the period when identification with one’s sub-cultural group is firmly established.
The motives or the entire psychological make-up is influenced by this identification. The result is the prejudice which becomes apparent through the behaviour of the person. Radke and Traques have shown how relations between the minority and the majority groups in a country get strained because of communal, religious or social prejudices.
As the children grow older they wear their racial or religious labels with stronger convictions. As already stated above, prejudices are the feelings, emotions, opinions and convictions developed not through one’s own experiences but are always the result of the behaviour and the oral teachings of the older members of the group.
The prejudiced adults tend to be rigid, authoritarian, highly conforming and overly moralistic. Frenkel’s study demonstrates that children’s ethnic prejudices are also related to general personality structure. Five hundred Californian boys and girls were the sample.
With the help of a tool, developed for the purpose, the views of the children, aged between 11 and 16, were sought in regard to Jews, Japanese, Mexicans, and out-groups in general.
The views of the ethnocentric (prejudiced) children would always be-“Only people who are like myself have the right to be happy.” One hundred and twenty children were found to be most prejudiced, and they were of the view that they should think only of the Americans first.
Attitude of a person is greatly affected by the prejudice that he has been subject to. The narrow or rigid personality is indicative of the nature of prejudice that one is subject to. A strong opposition to a change in the apparel of girls shows rigidity of attitude of the concerned society.
Such a rigid attitude is because of the adults’ prejudice against all that is modern. I do remember the sense of a Sanskrit shloka which is to the effect that all that is old, is not good, nor all that is new is bad, what is required, is to have an objective assessment of good and bad on the basis of their merits.
Such an attitude as implied in the message of this shloka, can be considered to be free from prejudice. With the passage of time, a lot many old practices lose their utility, and a good many new ones may prove to be of more use and benefit to us, but the social prejudice developed for all that is old, stands in the way of social reforms, and in the way of ushering in new things or practices.
Again, the teacher will have to shoulder the onus of freeing our new generation from a prejudice against all that is new. So far the developed countries are concerned, prejudice against the new is not such a problem there, but in the underdeveloped, and in some of the developing countries, prejudice against anything that is new, is a big problem—fundamentalism being ambient there.
If greater is the socio- educational backwardness, the greater will be the prejudice against all that is new.
Harris et al, write that prejudiced mothers score high in the authoritarian and rigid behaviour. They further write,—”What children learn is not specific attitude but a whole complex of attitudes and personality characteristics which reveal themselves in interpersonal relationships of various sorts.”
Tolerant children often speak of affection, co-operation, companionship while the prejudiced ones would, generally, complain of lack of affection, and of submission to stem, harsh and primitive treatment.
Interviews with parents confirmed the general hypothesis that the tolerant child learns at home the equalitarian and individualized approach to people as the ethnocentric child learns the authoritarian hierarchical way of thinking.
A prejudiced child would be rigid in his approach to a problem; he would not easily change his original conception of a problem. His approach to an intellectual task will be less effective than that of a less prejudiced child.
The prejudiced child would “persist with a poor hunch or hypothesis”. And, would thus have more difficulty in solving the problems. Such a child may not avail of the hints provided to him. Rigidity of approach, is an indicator of prejudiced attitude.
6. Modification of Racial Attitude towards Abnormal Children:
To modify racial attitude, is a difficult task; it requires intensive clinical treatment. For such a modification, “intolerance” will have to be replaced by “tolerance”, for which basic personality structure will have to be changed. Children who have become intolerant because of their living among the bigoted people, will have to be shifted to an environment characterised by tolerance and co-operation.
A democrat living where an equalitarian philosophy prevails, would be the congenial environment for the slackening of hardened prejudice, and, it would be only gradually that a change may come about in the attitude of looking at things and persons.
Those who are well-accepted by their peer-group, will have “ability to relate to others”. They would complain less about interpersonal relations, would be more satisfied with whom they live.
The children who live in segregated cabins, feel constant tension leading to the development of many abnormalities in them—enuresis, nightmare, crying, repeated accidents and uncommon physical symptoms may be the consequents.
Prejudice may be reduced by educational measures—to teach the child or adolescent whenever there is expressed a prejudiced attitude or behaviour, that how his thinking is not based on facts. Guardians and teachers may promote positive feelings towards those against whom the child is prejudiced.
7. Feeble-Mindedness – Child Abnormality Disease:
There are children who become a source of anxiety to their parents, and of tension for their teachers. They cannot follow easily what is taught to them. And, when they have learnt a thing, their forgetting the same much earlier than others, is more likely. This learning and retaining difficulty, is the main symptom of feeble-mindedness.
In 1973, the American Association on Mental Deficiency (AAMD), now the American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR), provided the definition of mental Retardation as under:
“Mental retardation refers to significantly sub-average general intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behaviour and manifested during the developmental period.” Feeble-mindedness is a mild mental retardation. It is also characterised by a lower level of intellectual capability, less behavioural adaptability, and backwardness in the process of development.
Reasons:
There may be many reasons for this mental weakness. Generally, this weakness happens to be innate. A mention has already been made of mongolism, a congenital mental deficiency caused when the number of chromosomes is increased by one beyond 46—I read a report to the effect that IQ would be reduced by 7 points if the prospective mother had been a thyroid patient.
If we measure this weakness in terms of intelligence quotient (IQ), then it may be said that all whose IQ is below 90, would be categorized as feeble-minded.
Family environment may also be responsible for the development of this. If, because of poor economic condition, the prospective mother, and after the birth of the child, the mother is not given balanced and rich food, containing all the needful ingredients, malnutrition may cause nervous weakness, and cerebral debility may be the result.
Spies et al, in a study concluded that deficiency of niacin resulted in poor school grades, poor marks. Even very young children with “Kwashiorkor”, behaviour in a queer way—dull, apathetic, miserable, indifferent to the surroundings, would impress as feeble-minded.
If the home environment is not wholesome, it is lacking in sanitation: proper ventilation—air and light is not there; or the house is congested; is situated in a slum or in a dirty narrow lane with no proper drainage system, and foul smell is coming out all the time because of dirt and stinking water; the occupants would always be ill, or prone to illness—both physical and mental.
If there is strained relations between father and mother of the child; or, for other reason, there, generally, goes on squabbling all the time- maybe, with beating and crying, the atmosphere would cause great tension to the child.
The constant mental tension would not only weaken his mental ability but would harm his physical health also. In such a disturbed atmosphere, it is just possible that the affected child may not have a full stint of his sleep and rest.
Even in a dull atmosphere where there is no stimulation; the family relations lack belongingness; the father may be an addict and an insensitive person, or too busy a person who has no time to sit and fondle his child, to talk to it, play with it, the mental health of the child would suffer.
In some cases, mother may also be failing to give a warm nurture; may be because of her ill-health or because of her own being too much tense due to disturbed home environment.
In such a dull environment, a child gets so much stunned that he loses whatever mental sharpness he may innately have been endowed with; or, just possible, the child may start behaving like a dullard because of losing all interest in activity of any sort.
So far feeble-mindedness is concerned, the impact of nature is always greater, nevertheless nurture may precipitate or reduce the gravity of the problem. Under the wider factor nurture, taking it in its broader sense, we may include the impact of school on the intellectual condition of the child.
The pivotal role in developing the atmosphere of the school is that of the teacher.
If the teacher of the school is authoritarian, rebukes the child who comes to him with his queries to satisfy his curiosity, creates fear in the growing child’s mind through punishments or rough handling- would prove to be the greatest stumbling block in the intellectual development of the child, and the child would behave to impress as more feeble-minded than actually he is.
Methods adopted in the school, and the entire physical milieu and human relationship prevailing between the teacher and the taught, and in the peer-group, all have their effect on the problem.
Measures:
If feeble-mindedness is of a very serious nature, no measure whatsoever can bring about perceptible results, otherwise the removal of the causes as mentioned above, should help in reducing the gravity of the problem, and if the feeble-mindedness is not innately very acute, the problem may be fully resolved.
i. Balanced and rich diet ought to be given to the prospective mother, and to the mother of the young baby.
ii. The home atmosphere should be peaceful and pleasant, lest the prospective mother or the mother of the young child should remain mentally tense, and also physically uneasy.
iii. The physical environment of the house should be congenial to mental and physical health of the mother, of the child, and of all its occupants.
iv. The interpersonal relationship between mother and the child, and between child and other members of the family should be characterised by a warm feeling of belongingness; and a caring nurture by parents and siblings should generate in the child not only a sense of security, but a feeling of delightfulness while it is in the lap of any of them.
v. Psychologists tell that the child learns to smile, it is the most important first step in the direction of socialisation in the home environment; the atmosphere of the school must not make this smile disappear.
The teacher should make “learning new things an exciting adventure”; and it depends, mainly, upon the teacher that the second most important socializing agency as the school is, may perform its function as such through comforting and solacing the child when he is troubled.
The physical environment of the school should be hygienic, comfortable, pleasant and helpful in learning. The situation should be stimulating and leading the child to be pleasantly engaged in different activities.
There was a time, up to early years of 1970s, when the mentally retarded children were put in segregated classes, and there were institutions specific for such children.
That isolation for the mentally retarded was given up in favour of integrated classes where the environment may be more stimulating, and more inspiring because of the presence of brilliant students in the class; and here, the mentally backward would not be suffering the social stigma with the label of backwardness that segregation had put upon them.
i. To make things graspable for the feeble-minded, things will have to be taught with the help of concrete objects, such children have difficulty, especially, in understanding abstract ideas. A lot of teaching aids, as per need of the lesson to be taught, ought to be used. The teaching aids should be big enough to be clearly perceptible, and interesting enough to attract the attention even of such students.
ii. The feeble-minded students will learn more if Dewey’s maxim— “Learning by doing” is applied as a method.
iii. And, the most important thing is that such children need more of personal attention to be given to them with a lot of affection and patience.