rights of special children A dynamic and poten- tially powerful new force in the affairs of families with disabled and handi- capped children emerged from a recent meeting of concerned parents from throughout B.C. Dele- gates from Terrace, Smithers, Vanderhoof, Prince George, Dawson Creek, Williams Lake and Surrey met at the Prince George Child Development Centre to discuss issues, identify problems and map out a strategy to change the chronically substandard care and support for both’ children and parents prevalent in most parts of B.C. by Michael Kelly _The meeting was organized by Ann Miller, program director for the Prince George Child Development Centre, and it was initially in- tended as a parents’ con- ference. The people who attended were parents of children with a spectrum of disorders, including cerebral palsy, neuro- logical trauma, Down's syndrome, autism and microcephaly. A morn- ing and afternoon of in- tense discussion revealed a series of common problems and concerns, and the meeting con- cluded with the forma- tion of a new organiza- tion, tentatively called “The B.C. Parents’ Net- work’’, It is difficult for families with healthy children to imagine the sheer logistical problems faced daily by parents of handicapped children. A child with cerebral palsy requires daily help from parents in exercises to prevent muscle deteri- oration as well as regular treatment from profes- sional physiotherapists. Other conditions de- mand different but equally strict and unremitting parent in- volvement as well as con- tinuing professional help from physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech pathologists, speech therapists, audi- ologists and other health 2 Terrace Review — Wednesday, November 19, ‘1986 New organization formed to fight for FConcerned p i tatives were (front science disciplines. Although the group had children ranging in age from two years to adolescence with a wide disparity of problems, they found common ground in talking about the effort required in at- tempting to do the best for their kids and the frustration of trying to secure adequate care and support for them. Many described themselves as being ‘‘stressed-out’’, “burned-out”, and ex- hausted. The Terrace Child De- velopment Centre, al- though under-funded (there have been only nominal increases from the Ministries of Health and Human Resources over the past five years — $16,000 has to be found before March 1987 or programs will have to be cut) is for- tunate in that the pro- gram director, Margaret Dediluke, is a physio- therapist, and the Centre also has two speech therapists and several qualified preschool per- sonnel. In contrast, the Prince George Centre, a much larger facility with a caseload of more than 200 children, has only a part-time physiothera- pist. There are 17 Child Development Centres in B.C. operated by the Cerebral Palsy Associa- tion, and all of them are to varying degrees understaffed, under- funded and overloaded with children needing professional help. Parents unfortunate enough to live in remote areas face a daunting regimen of continual travel to obtain therapy FIRST WINTER SALE crafts, baking ate. Saturday, November 29 10 am. to 5 p.m. Arena Banquet Room SKEENA VALLEY FARMER MARKET and medical treatment. There were several single’ parents at the meeting who described the borderline chaos of try- ing to work for a living while fulfilling the parenting demands of caring for a disabled child. There was very little self-pity evident at the meeting, but one thing that was evident was a. great deal of strongly focused, sustained and controlled anger. A woman whose young son had nearly died after falling into a disused well stated that she received no financial assistance for rehabilitation ther- apy from the Ministry of Health, and she has to take him to Vancouver six times a year for inten- sive therapy. Another said that her seven-year- old cerebral palsied child stays in a local nursing home during the week because her community, Dawson Creek, has no group home for such children despite an over- whelming identified need for one. Others bitterly described the bureau- cratic labyrinth-walking and full-time lobbying of ministry personnel re- quired to obtain articles such as wheel chairs and other necessary equip- its of disabled and handicapped children met racently in Prince George to® ‘form a new action group for mutual support, the B.C. Parents Network. Terrace represen row, sacond and third from left) Steve and Karen Skog. ment. Ironically, foster parents having care of special-needs children receive full subsidies for medical equipment, drugs, transportation and all the other required paraphernalia and _ser- vices, while natural parents in the same cir- cumstances receive few of these benefits or none at all. A Prince George woman told the group her centre had found a qualified full-time physiotherapist from Belgium, but she was forced to leave after an application to renew her work visa was denied. There are presently 50 full-time vacancies in B.C. for physiothera- pists, and there are hun- dreds of unemployed and fully-qualified physiotherapists in the western European coun- tries, but due to wording in the B.C. Physio- therapy Act foreign pro- fessionals are not permit- ted to work here. Government funding cut-backs to post- secondary education have reduced graduates from the UBC pbhysio- therapy program to a trickle, and it is nearly impossible to attract qualified people from continued on page 3 Public Sport Fish Meeting The Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Provincial Fisheries Branch will host a series of public meetings to solicit imput from Sport fisherman. These meetings will be held at: 1) Houston Community Hall - Houston Tuesday, Nov. 25 at 7 p.m. | 2) Hudson’s Bay Lodge - Smithers Wednesday, Nov. 26 at 7 p.m. 3) Inn of the West - Terrace Thursday, Nov. 27 at 7 p.m. Directory of Terrace Churches Sacred Heart Catholic Church Maas times Saturday: 7:30 p.m. Sunday: 8:30, 10:00 and 11:30 a.m. Pastor: Allan F. Noonan, O.M.. 4830 Straume Ave. 635-2313 St. Matthew’s Anglican/ Episcopal Church — 4726 Lazelle Ave., Terrace Phone 635-9019 Rector Rev. L. Stephens — 635-5855 Sunday services: 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. Sunday School HRIST and Adult Class UTHERAN 9:45 a.m. HURCH Sunday Worship - 11:00 a.m. Phone 3229 Sparks Street, Terrace 635-5520 Rev. Michael R. Bergman Terrace Seventh-day Adventist Church 3306 Griffiths — 635-3232 Saturday — Sabbath School — 9:30 a.m. — Divine Service — 11:00 a.m. Wednesdays — Prayer meeting — 7:00 p.m. Pastor Ed Sukow — 635-7642 EVANGELICAL FREE CHURCH 3302 Sparks Street, Terrace, 8.C. PH: 635-5115 Pastors Jim Westman and Bob Shatford Sunday School for all ages — 9:45 a.m. Sunday Services — 11:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Prayer Meeting — Wednesdays — 7:00 p.m. KNOX UNITED CHURCH 4907 Lazelle Ave. Phone: 635-6014 Sunday Moming Worship 10:30 AM Sunday School 10:30 AM Youth Group 6:30 PM Adult study throughout the week. Call Church office for details. Minister: Stan Ballay You are welcome! Terrace Pentecostal Assembly 3511 Eby Street Phone: 635-2434 9:45 AM Sunday School 11:00 AM Morning Service 7:00 PM —_ Evening Service John Caplin — Pastor Len Froese — Assoc. Pastor The Salvation Army 4643 Walsh Avenue 9:45 AM — Christian Education: all ages SUNDAY 11:00 AM — Holiness Meeting SERVICES 7:00 Pm — Salvation Meeting FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PHONE 635-6480 eo