Most attention in the education of the blind has been given to the education of blind chil dren. Although the great majority of the blind become so after reaching 20 years of age, there has been an apparent neglect in the education of the adult blind. Various organizations have been formed in recent years which are giving the needs of the adult blind special attention. State commissions have been organized by legis lative authority in certain States supported by State funds, to provide for the education of the adult blind. In some instances, as in New York, the commission makes provision for home teach ers. Under this method a teacher goes from home to home and gives instruction to the blind adult in his home.
A potent factor in the education of the blind adult is the work done through libraries. In March 1896 a library section for the blind was incorporated in the New York State Library. In the same year the Detroit Public Library selected 110 volumes and made these available for the blind of the city. The Library of Congress at Washington established a read ing-room for the blind in 1879. There are now (1918) about 70 libraries maintaining divisions which contain embossed type books which are circulated among the blind people.
Crippled It was not regarded necessary to provide separate schools for crippled children until many years after schools had been founded for the other types of physically handicapped children. In recent years the num ber of crippled children has increased, owing to the prevalence of tuberculosis and infantile paralysis and to other causes.
In 1832 Bavaria established at Munich the first institution in the world for the education of crippled children. Up until 1890 only five institutions had been established in the United States. Three of these were in New York city and two in Philadelphia. Since 1890, 31 institu tions for the education of crippled children have been established in this country.
Children's hospitals and orthopedic insti tutions have been organized from private con tributions for the treatment of crippled children. In many of these institutions, provision has been made for their instruction during the period of time they have been under treatment therein. In Massachusetts, New York, Nebraska and Minnesota State hospitals have been established, and graded schools maintained by the State in connection with such institutions. However
the means afforded for the education of this type of unfortunate children are not adequate to provide for the treatment and the education of the crippled children of the country. There is a large class of these children whose parents cannot afford to meet the expense of their main tenance in private institutions, and whose educa tion is being neglected. Many crippled children who are physically able have always attended the public schools. A crippled child, possessing his mental faculties and being physically able to attend school, will make better progress by associating with normal children than by at tending a special institution. In many of the large cities of the country, special schools are maintained by the municipality and in some cases in co-operation with contributed funds, for the education of this of children. In ether cities, •the public school authorities set apart rooms in the public school buildings for the purpose of providing educational facilities for these crippled children. Each city and school district in the State of New York in which there are 10 or more crippled children is obligated, under the law of 1917, to establish a special class and to provide instruction adapted to the mental attainments of the children and to their physical condition. In a city or district in which there are less than 10 of these children, the school authorities are authorized to con tract with the board of education of another city or district, or with an established institu tion in the State, for the education of such children.
The cities of Chicago, Cleveland, Boston and New York maintain day school buildings which have been designed, constructed and equipped with special reference to the needs and comforts of crippled children. These buildings are not all of the same type, but in them will be found such conveniences as inclines and elevators in stead of stairways, movable chairs instead of desks, rubber or cork floors and handrails at low levels. Special chairs and seats accommo dated to the physical defects of the children, couches, air cushions, folding chairs, blankets, sweaters, etc., are also provided. The Crippled Children's East Side Free School of New York city accommodates 200 and is the largest in stitution of the kind in the country.