trainable children. This was truly a gigantic step forward, because up to
that time educable children among the retarded were the only ones
accepted. A pilot class in a public school in Baltimore demonstrated the
feasibility of extending service to boys and girls lower in the intelligence
scale than educables.

Following this experiment, the Maryland General Assembly rose to
its responsibility, appropriating the money to pay $600 a year for the
schooling of trainables. Moreover, the provision was made that if no
public classes were available within a reasonable distance from a child's
home, the $600 could be used by the parents to finance the training in a
private school—even a private school in another state. At first, train-
able children under seven years of age were not admitted, but the Balti-
more chapter of the Maryland Society for Retarded Children started a
class for pre-school trainables as young as four years, the first of its kind
in the country, I am told. The public schools learned from this experi-
ence and opened their rolls to trainables as young as four years.

While this progress was taking place in the lower end of the age scale,
similar advancements were being made at higher age levels. The older
children had been kept in classes with younger ones of comparable
mental level, but it was discovered that boys and girls of junior-high
age could make successful social adjustments with normals of their age,
and the Baltimore school system took measures to divide the students by
chronological age groups. Today, Baltimore has seven junior high
schools and three elementary schools specifically for retardates.

Now, normal or educable children are required by law to attend
school from the age of 7 through 16 years. Slow students, however, are
permitted to continue until 21. The State has also extended that pro-
vision for trainable retarded children. These provisions not only benefit
the children and the parents, but the State also saves money under them.
The custodial care of retarded children at Rosewood State Training
School costs $2, 100 a year. For only $600 a year, these children can
receive training and education that will enable them to remain with
their families. An idea of the progress that has been made for the
schooling of these unfortunate young ones can be gained from school
statistics. In Baltimore alone today, there are 450 classes for educables
and 16 classes for trainables, to say nothing of the many classes elsewhere
in the State.

At the regular session of the General Assembly this year, another
significant step was taken to give mentally retarded children an oppor-
tunity to take their places in the community. The legislature appropri-

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