Homefires (US Dept of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1963)

This film profiles a Homemaker Service that provides assistance to families and individuals in their own homes. The camera follows one homemaker as she cares for the families assigned to her. She is shown as she shops, prepares meals, and does light housework for an elderly couple who would otherwise be unable to live on their own. The homemaker works under the supervision of a public health nurse. When a Puerto Rican mother of six is injured, the homemaker looks after the children and helps with the housework as the mother recuperates.

Family Planning? (National Education & Information Films Ltd, Bombay, India, 1952)

The necessity of family planning and population control in India are presented. Children suffer in families that cannot fully support them, and the country as a whole cannot achieve prosperity when jobs, food supplies, medical care, and housing are not plentiful enough for a large and rapidly growing population. The film urges planned parenthood as one element of the solution to healthier children and a healthier nation.

The City: Implications for the Future (Airlie Productions, 1977)

Focusing on Bogotá, Colombia as a case study, this film discusses reasons for rural-to-urban migration, and the consequences of that population shift. Homes and land are scarcer, and rural farming skills don't suit urban factory jobs. Large families aren't the asset they might be in other settings. The film profiles a successful "community-based distribution" (CBD) program sponsored by Profamilia, which assures easy access to contraceptives, providing an alternative to a large family that may not be the best choice for all households.

Mental Growth of a Mongol (Dr. Arnold Gesell, 1945)

This film shows a series of tests which were run on a white male baby at the ages of one, two, three, and six years of age to test the boy's mental, cognitive, and motor skills. When the child was one-year old, blocks were placed in front of him. He pushed and pounded them on the table. He was also given a cup, rattle, and bell which he pushed and pounded on the table. The last test showed the nurse trying unsuccessfully to get the child to stand upright on his own. When the child was two-years-old, blocks were placed in front of him and he threw them into a bowl.

Child Analyses, Psychoanalytic Sanatorium (L. Pierce Clark, 1930)

This film represents the first use of a motion picture in child analysis. The film was used to study the play activities of children with psychiatric problems. The first case is a white female, eight years old, with petit mal seizures. She demonstrates tantrums and rebelliousness. She shows oral sadism and cannibalism toward the analyst. When the analyst acts out a seizure, the child holds on to her. The child shoots an imaginary policeman. The second case is a white male, age 19, with epilepsy, who plays both female and male roles.

Neurological Examination of the Newborn (National Medical Audiovisual Center, 1960)

This program discusses and demonstrates the neurological examination of the newborn. The examination techniques and the standards used to distinguish normal from abnormal responses are the result of a collaborative project to study the neurological disorders of infancy and childhood at the National Institutes of Health. The program examines several different infants during the first week of life to illustrate both normal and abnormal responses to various neurological tests. The program discusses in considerable detail the criteria used to differentiate normal from abnormal responses.

Approach to Objects by Psychotic Children (University of London, 1957)

This silent film was shot in Maudsley Hospital, London, and shows children handling various types of objects, placing them in their mouths, and looking around for the objects when they are removed. Apparently in contrast to non-psychotic children, these subjects search for a missing object only in the place where it was located immediately prior to removal--in the child's left hand, for example. Learn more about this film and search its transcript at NLM Digital Collections: http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9616519.

Исследования на неразделившихся близнецах (Research on Conjoined Twins), CCCP (USSR), 1957

Для переключения субтитров с английского на русский, нажмите кнопку Настройка справа от символа "СС" и выберите Русский язык To switch the captions above from Russian to English, select the Settings button to the right of the “CC” symbol (place cursor in the movie frame itself, lower right). In the Subtitles/CC box, select English.

Nature of Mental Retardation (US Dept of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1968)

This presentation describes the etiology of mental retardation and discusses the potential for rehabilitation counselling and work potential in the various levels of retardation. In this presentation normal intellectual growth and development are first described. The effects of the inadequate intellectual functioning on the life of the retarded child are then explored. While the child with an intelligence quotient below 84 is considered to be retarded, this program stresses the importance of his adaptive behavior rather than his I.Q.

Life Begins (Arnold Gesell, 1939)

The first segment of this film is titled "A Baby's Day at Twelve Weeks." Over footage of a 12-week-old baby and his mother, Arnold Gesell of the Yale Clinic of Child Development explains the developmental importance of each aspect of the baby's day, which begins as he wakes, stretches, and yawns. His yawn sends extra oxygen to his brain. Stretching makes his heart beat more strongly. He recognizes his mother and nurses at her breast. He naps in his crib. Gesell says babies show their individuality even in the way they sleep and wake up.

Far View Health Camp [Silent] (Producer unknown, 1936)

This film shows children at the Far View Health Camp in Cortland County, N.Y. It provides an overview of who can attend and why the camp should be supported. The film begins when the campers arrive at the start of camp and then takes the viewer through a typical day. It includes footage of children at meals, sleeping, at flag-raising, cleaning, playing, at story hour and doing arts and crafts. African American children are shown in this film. Publisher unknown.

The Public Health Nurse and the Retarded Child (Oklahoma State Dept. of Health, 1960)

This film discusses the role of the public health nurse in relation to the retarded child and his family. This objective is achieved with the aid of clinical subjects, personnel from a clinic for retarded individuals, and public health nurses. Miss Roberts, a public health nurse, becomes aware of a retarded child, Mark, during a routine home visit for an eye check on Mark's older brother. Mark's mother describes him as "slow," and the program discusses simple methods to use in assessing a child's abilities at an early age.

Fears of Children (National Association for Mental Health, 1952)

A series of episodes typical of those arising in families with small children shows how the fears of a normal five-year-old named Paul are related to feelings about parents. His fears--of the dark, of being alone, of new situations--not only prevent him from enjoying experiences that other boys enjoy, but tend to widen the gap of misunderstanding between him and his parents. The film points out that Paul's feelings are common to children of his age and may be accentuated when parents become either unduly protective or over-severe. Sponsored by the U.S.

Mother-Infant Interaction (New York University, 1967)

This is the first installment in a series about the behavioral and emotional interaction between mothers and infants in the first year of life. In a study of these relationships, more than 100 mother-infant pairs were observed clinically, and the feeding of each infant by the mother was filmed at intervals during the year. Seven types of maternal behavior with infants are shown. The narrator observes that a mother's handling of her infant during feeding is linked to the child's later behavior and personality.