Breaking the barrier

Press, 26 June 1987, Page 13

Breaking the barrier

Meeting the needs of physically disabled children, young adults, and their families, demands a lot of professional care, and public and voluntary support. To help cater for these needs, the Crippled Children Society is holding a street appeal tomorrow.

The television advertisement depicting a young boy in chains stresses the central theme for this year’s appeal breaking down barriers that stop the physically disabled from taking part in the community. One of the first steps towards this major aim is to involve the community in C.C.S. projects. “We’re looking to expanding our volunteer system so that we include the community as much as possible. Those who come to help with driving, caregiving and visiting our clients learn a great deal about the difficulties the centre has to deal with, as well as the courage that many of our clients have in struggling to become more independent. It encourages a deeper understanding between community and the disabled if more of the community take interest,” said the deputy manager for fundraising and public relations for the C.C.S., Mr Dinis Langely. “If you ever watch physically handicapped

children, you’ll find that once they have learned to accept their limitations, they can cope quite happily, making the most of what they have. They do not know they are handicapped, but it is often society which labels them as such, thereby isolating them. It’s these sorts of psychological barriers that the Crippled Children Society struggles to break,” he said. Funds raised will help pay for, and extend, many programmes which the C.C.S. provides for the physically disabled. The Child Development Centre run by the ,C.C.S. provides an educational programme for disabled children with the aim of easing them into the community. Mothers arriving home from hospital with a new baby with physical disabilities are usually contacted by the C.C.S. at that very early stage. "We have an ‘early intervention’ programme which entails providing parents with a certain programme for testing their child’s strengths and needs,” said the Child Development Centre supervisor, Mrs Nan Doughty. “This is incorporated into daily family life. For example, if a child has problems with language delay, we might suggest to the parents that they ignore a child’s plea for something so that the

child is forced to ask for it,” Mrs Doughty said. The centre provides a place where disabled children can meet each other, play, learn and grow. It also allows the parents, who may feel stressed at times, to meet and’share their experiences with other parents, as well as time to themselves.

Professional help is also part of the programme, with Mrs Robyn Bensley, as the North Canterbury domiciliary paediatric physiotherapist visiting to check children’s progress. An educational psychologist and advisor for the handicapped is also provided by the Department of Education.

“We usually look after children at the centre until they are about three years before moving them on to conventional community educational services,” Mrs Doughty said. Even after they leave, the C.C.S. still stay in contact with the particular kindergarten or play centre to see that all the relevant equipment is available, and just to check the individual progress.

Most of all children are taught to accept their disabilities. “Once they can do that, then they can also learn to cope with their disabilities as best they can,” said Mrs Doughty.