Hood House was purpose built in 1972 and opened in 1973 for 18 mentally handicapped children with learning disabilities. Many people are amazed when they stepped inside the doors of Hood House. 'We didn’t think it would be so modern,' 'What a happy at­mosphere, it's not institutionalised at all.'· These are some of the comments made to the staff by visitors. Superintendent, Alec Kemp wrote an article for Barnardo's View which will let you know what it was like at Hood House.

Hood House is not an old rambling building.  Situated in its own grounds in Woodford Bridge, Essex, we are in close proximity to local shops and public transport as well as Epping and Hainault Forests. The children, of both sexes, ages 5 to 16 plus, live in three groups of six. There are four adults responsible for each group, under the direction of myself the Superintendent, Alec Kemp, and Deputy, Dorothy Raner.

It is important to stress that we do not work as a hospital although we do have one nurse on the staff who is responsible for all medi­cal aspects including arranging hospital and dental appoint­ments. The rest of the staff are trained in residential care, whose focus is on fostering relation­ships between the children and among the children and adults. The children are of many handi­caps, a third are Down's Syndrome (generally known as mongolism), one with cerebral atrophy, another microcephalus, another spastic. Many, however, are simply diagnosed brain damaged, the cause of which is not always known. Some are hyperactive while others are very slow and precise in their movements but they all need to learn to live and relate with one another. Do they argue? Yes, like any other group of children living together, but they are also very protective and con­cerned for each other.

Of course, the adults too need to be able to relate to one another. To encourage this, weekly staff meetings are arranged where staff are able to make sugges­tions, criticisms, or just to air their views. Adults responsible for each group meet monthly to discuss the progress and the future development of each child. Although children are encour­aged to keep their living areas clean and tidy, we also employ cooks and domestic staff.

The purpose of Hood House, first and foremost, is that we create a happy, warm atmos­phere in which the children can live as they are here on a long-term basis. For many, this is the only home they can remember.

Secondly, we see it as our responsibility to train these children to reach the maximum in dependence which their capabilities will allow. Some children are still being toilet trained, while others are coping with dressing and washing them­selves. Still others are able to shop or use the buses with little or no adult supervision. It is our desire that most of our child­ren should be able to fend for themselves in an adult hostel. The more independent they can become while at Hood, the fuller their life will be in the future.

We must remember that Hood House is not an end in itself. It is vitally important that we work closely with the professional people. All our children attend local special schools. It is essen­tial, therefore, that we have good communication with them, and that we work together with the same aims for each child. To help us to do this we have "diaries on each child which are passed between the school and Hood House in which teachers and staff write details of the child's activities and can share new methods of working, progression and regressions. Staff at Hood are welcome to spend time at the schools while teachers are invited to visit us.

Our general practitioner and the local speech therapist have important contributions to make. We work closely with these and are free to seek their advice whenever needed.

The most important people, however, are the parents of the children. Every one of them have parents, although unfor­tunately, not all are in contact with them. Some were rejected because they were handicapped and probably because of the lack of the right kind of counselling for the parents at the time of birth. Others, however, are with us simply because the parents found difficulty in coping with a handicapped and therefore very demanding child. We are fortunate because with a high staff ratio we are able to enjoy days off and holidays away from the children. For the parent, however, the care they give is continuous often without a break or outside help.

It is with these parents that we are able to work very closely. We like them to feel that their child is still theirs and very much part of their family unit. They visit whenever' they are able; take their child home for a day, a week-end, or even a holiday. Whenever possible, they are included when we buy clothes or attend hospital or doctor's appointments. We often learn a great deal from the families of the children in our care and it is only right that we should work together for the benefit of their child.

We at Hood believe that, although the children are men­tally handicapped, they are firstly young people with a right to a place in society. It is our job to help them to obtain that place.

Alec J. Kemp Superintendent.

Sadly the home closed in 1986 along with most of the other homes Dr Barnardo's used to run. Had the battle been won? I will leave that for you to deside.