§ Mr. Kilfedderasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many disabled persons there are in the Province, classified by the various types of disablement.
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§ Mr. Moyle:The numbers of disabled persons included on registers maintained by health and social services boards are as follows.
Disability Number of Persons Blind 2,442 Partially sighted 828 Deaf without speech 526 Deaf with speech 354 Hard of hearing 445 Organic nervous diseases—epilepsy,disseminated sclerosis, poliomyelitis, etc. 1,788 Neuroses, psychoses and other nervous and mental disorders not included in organic nervous diseases 1,554 Other disabilities—amputation, arthritis, rheumatism, injuries, etc. 5,485 Total 13,422 These figures exclude approximately 6,500 mentally handicapped persons registered as in need of special care. Moreover, since regisration on the part of the disabled person is voluntary, as in Great Britain, the figures do not represent the total number of physically disabled persons in the Province. Many persons who are not registered are receiving health and personal social services provided by the boards.