“ENTIRELY VOLUNTARY”

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 430, 11 August 1928, Page 11

“ENTIRELY VOLUNTARY”

TREATMENT OF DEFECTIVES DR. TURKINGTON EXPLAINS j EFFECT OF BILL (From Our Own Correspondent.) HAMILTON, Friday. j “There has been a great deal of misunderstanding over this measure,” stated Dr. Buckley Turkington, of Auckland, interviewed on the subject of the Mental Defec- j tives Bill, in Hamilton, this morning. “People are absolutely missing the point that it is to be entirely voluntary/’ she continued. Dr. Turkington has been giving evidence before the Parliamentary committee sitting over the Bill. “Moreover, it would be applied only to specified cases, judged on their merits, and would be for the protection of the person concerned as much as for the protection of society. I was asked to give my opinion, as I had had experience in Australia of the working of both sterilisation and segregation. In some cases the person himself or herself, or the parents on behalf of a minor, would ask for sterilisation in order that the individual might be able to become a member of society. Such a person would still be kept under supervision. While admitting there was some doubt as to. the extent of the hereditary transmission of mental defects, Dr. Turkington said that investigations and experiments had been made in England showing that in no case where both parents were defective was the child normal. The children in some cases had been removed from association with the parents at an early age, but still the defect developed. ‘‘There are two outstanding items in the Bill that seem to be terrifying people needlessly,” she added. “One is the phrase about the two years’ retardation of school children. WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS “In giving my evidence at Wellington, I asked the intention of the clause, and was assured that it meant that the name of the retarded child would never be considered by the Mental Defectives Board unless the teachers, the dental clinic, and the school medical officer had failed to find a® adequate reason for the backwardness. The education authorities might find the reason in the nomadic habits of the parents, frequent changes of school or of teachers, or some other cause. Or the dental clinic might ascertain that the cause was defective teeth or nerve trouble. Or, again, the school medical officer might account for the backwardness by some physical weakness. “Only if all these should fail to find the explanation would the child’s case come before the board at all for consideration. “This board would consist of trained psychiatrists, psychologists and others, and three at least out of seven would have to be present to consider each case. “It is quite likely that the period of retardation necessary to bring the child under consideration at all will be increased from two to three years, and the wording of the clause may be altered to remove the misunderstandings that have arisen, but it will be seen that parents of normal children who happen to be a little behindhand in their schooling have nothing at all to fear.”