Pediatrician welc There are unique problems facing children with learning disabilities in the Northwest, ac- cording to pediatrician Dr. K.O. Asante, but the newly begun Terrace Chapter of the Learning Disabilities Association of B.C. may be able to help by pro- moting awareness and lobbying the ministries of health and education. “FT come face to face with the problems of children with learn- ing disabilities but I’ve not always been able to help them myself,” says Asante. ‘‘And neither have I been happy with the results of the services and shortages of personnel in the school system and the means of adequately diagnosing these children so we can do something to help them early in their school years.”’ ' According to Asante, even when diagnosed,. learning dis- abilities are not primarily a. medical problem. ‘Most of the , necessities of treatment and management are primarily educational,’’? he says. But to some extent, even today, when a child is unable to learn, a search begins for a medical problem rather than a learning disability. The reason for this, says Two members leave Family Court group Terrace city council has received two letters of resigna- tion from members of the Fami- ly Court and Youth Justice Committee. Resigning are Dawn Martin, the committee chairper- son, and committee member Campbell Stewart. Both have been members of the committee for over four years. Their talents and knowledge will be missed by the committee, but both are con- fident it will continue to operate as it has in the past. Stewart says he has enjoyed his involvement but added, “I am confident that this commit- tee can continue to serve a valuable role in the betterment of our community.” In a letter to Mayor Jack Talstra, Martin thanked the city for the appointment, saying the experience ‘‘has been rewarding _ in many ways’’ and ‘I learned a _ great deal.” She added, ‘The support council has given. the committee is commendable and is an encouragement to the peo- -ple to continue to commit © themselves.” _. Martin added that she is proud of what Terrace has to offer. “There are weaknesses and areas of concern but overall the youth and families of Terrace are able to get assistance from a great number .of agencies and I’m sure that the dedication o1 the community will continue and thesé services will accordingly.”’ In the 1987-88 fiscal report, Martin said the committee has had an active year. She says they have monitored services present- ly available and discussed others that are not available for youth and families in need of help. She said they also played an active role in supporting Legal Aid for Terrace, the Terrace Youth Cen- tre and the Victim Assistance Program. According to Martin, the committee presented MLA Dave Parker with a detailed brief ex- pressing concern over the level of services being affected | through privatization. She said the brief included presentations by other groups such. as the Ministry of Social Services and Housing, Terrace Youth Centre, probation services and Big Brothers and Sisters. Martin also said two commit- tee members attended a one day workshop in Terrace, the B.C. Council for Family Conference, and another two, with financial assistance from the city, had at- tended: the provincial Family Court Youth Justice Committee Conference in Vancouver, hatever youl wear ce clean with care, = expertly laundered Rickards Cleaners Wednesday is SHIRT DAY only i) $410 Men's or Ladies’ cotton blend dress or business shirts 8:60 o.m.- 6:00 p.m. Monday to Friday 6:36 @.m.-5:38 p.m.-Saturday KIDDIE CORMER FROM THE POST OFFIKE expand» omes aid to learning Asante, is historical, He says that only two or three decades ago, many learning disabled children were thought to be mentally handicapped and unable to learn. Or they were thought to have a behavioral dif- ficulty related to a medical prob- lem for which no solution could be found. ’ However, in time, a segment of the medical community, the psychiatrists and psychologists, did become interested in learn- ing disabilities and most of the work in this area has been done by these professionals. He explains that studies by psychiatrists and psychologists have shown that these children have certain difficulties in inter- preting what they see. “They may see the letter ‘O’, but to them it may look like an ‘E’ — they are not receiving the right or normal kinds of responses,”’ says Asante. ‘SA learning disabled child does not have any recognizable physical or medical abnor- malities. They have no visual problems in the sense of not be- ing able to see. When we test their vision, many of these chil- dren have normal vision. The problem lies between what the eye sees, how it gets to the brain and how the brain interprets it.’’ But, he points out, ‘Children with learning disabilities are not @ Auto Tracking SKEENA MALL TERRACE Terrace Review — Wednesday, Julvé. 1988 7 disabled mentally retarded. On the con- trary, these children are quite bright — ‘they may score low on their IQ testing because of their disability — but they are not mentally retarded and in fact many have high [Q’s.” Asante points out at the same time that in some cases a medical cause for behavioral or learning problems can be found and it is the physician’s job to either identify or exclude such a possibility. But on the average, one out of every 10 children beginning grade primary school have a learning disability which needs to be identified and treated in the educational system as early as possible. But, says Asante, the educa- tional system doesn’t provide adequate diagnostic services. He says that quite often teachers with 25 to 30 children are ieft on their own —and because they are not trained in the field of learn- ing disabilities, often sit them in a corner as a ‘“‘bad child’’ or make mistakes in identifying the cause of the problem. Asante says that these chil- dren have to be identified, pro- perly assessed by a neuropsy- chologist or a physician who works in the area of learning disabilities, and given the educa- tional help they need. Purchase the Sanyo VM-D3 now and don't pay a cent until 1989!* SANYO VM-D3 8mm CAMCORDER @ 1/2000th second electronic @ Flying Erase Head shutter speed @ 6X power zoom Digital Auto Focus with 2 speed = Weighs just 1.1 kg (excl. battery) motor g Accessories: soft carrying case, @ Auto Date Impnnt multi- AC adaptor/ charger, *‘And this is an area that we are very, very acutely short of here,” says Asante. He says that when he sees a child with an ap- parent learning problem for which he can find no medical basis, he refers them to the Chil- dren’s Hospital in Vancouver. “The proper. testing of these children is sophisticated. It’s very time consuming and needs a diagnostic team to do it proper- ly.” But to be done properly, the diagnostic tools need to be in the Northwest. It’s not only the cost of travel and hotels, he explains. By the time a child has travelled . to Vancouver, he or she is tired and disoriented and often. im- possible to assess. ‘‘I think it’s a good idea to see if we can’t get a (diagnostic) service in Terrace — or at least in the region.’” Asante, who sees himself at times as an ‘“‘ombudsman’’ for children, says he fully supports the local association and the work that they are doing. Because, ‘‘Where the child has the potential and is not achiev- ing potential, this is the kind of | child that certainly needs to be assessed, And this is the child who I will do everything possible to try and provide the kind of diagnostic assistance to help them to achieve their potential.”’ _KITIMAT bd 2 TE et ae Ne Macaig ea oe eS, ae oe ee eee eg, eee SO