ABSTRACT
The degree to which a disability becomes a handicap depends to a certain extent on the surroundings of the person who is disabled. In some areas of Great Britain the housing shortage is acute, and this shortage is inevitably reflected in surveys of the needs of handicapped children. Multi-storey building has become an important part of the city's housing programme only within the last ten years. About 39 % of all the housing in the city has been purpose-built by the corporation. The East Midlands mothers lived in widely differing areas, ranging from the large cities to isolated villages in rural areas, in every type of housing. Local authorities have permissive powers, under the National Assistance Act, to provide help for the handicapped in their homes through their Health and/or Welfare Departments. Relief for hard-pressed mothers is provided through local authority mental welfare departments, with the co-operation of hospitals for the mentally sub-normal.
