Learning centre opening

Press, 29 February 1984, Page 6

Learning centre opening

A national centre for people with specific learning disabilities will be opened in Christchurch on March 15. The centre, at 15 Rastrick Street, Merivale, has been working for about a year but will be officially opened by the Mayor, Sir Hamish Hay, and Mr Roy McKenzie of the McKenzie Trust, who gave the organisation the $47,500 to buy the building last year. The director of the centre, Dr Jean Seabrook, said the main functions of the centre were to test and assess the learning disabilities of children and adults and to train S.P.E.L.D. teachers. The teachers, who were fully qualified teachers be-

fore training with S.P.E.L.D., attended the centre for three weeks of intensive training in working with people with learning disabilities. A threeweek course, which included teachers from Rangiora and the West Coast, began at the centre this week. Once trained, the teachers went back to their areas and worked with children in their own homes outside school hours. The S.P.E.L.D. teachers provided tuition supplementary to the school programme and designed around the specific learning difficulty. Some people also attended intensive block courses at the centre, usually of three weeks duration. People came from all

over New Zealand to be tested, assessed and to receive training, said the national president of S.P.E.L.D. Mrs Man - Cameron Lewis. Most of these were children, although more adults were approaching the centre for help. Since’opening, the centre had had about six new children to test each week. Nationally, the organisation catered for 3000 children, she said. The Rastrick Street centre was the only national centre in New Zealand. Dr Seabrook said. S.P.E.L.D. has 26 branches throughout the country. The Canterbury branch office is in the Canterbun,- Aged People’s Welfare Council building.