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16 THE CAROLINA TIKES-SATURDAY. AUGUST 14, 1S32 Impact Helps Parents Cope With Down's Syndrome Children OAU Summit Is Postponed V 1 $ . K J 1 -.1 - fr fcyf PWH M W I. II II I !! IIIIHJ . ,111 f 4ft- t- .:-- -i -t. - , ; . I . : , ' ' m . i i'. . :' ' i ! lk. ( - " ' ' ('..''i'.'.7 . A . ," ! ' v.TrA d, j y .7 1 1 , 0-: M,x : the baby my itcpson my wife, even the dog." John Langdon Down,' a British physician whoi first described the.condi- tion in 1866, called it it v . -: . iiiuuguiiMii. nuwcver, f Beard says the termTslio ; longer used because. 4'it i denotes a racial slur," AN the 19th annual summit of the Organiza tion of African Unity.' scheduled to convene in Tripoli August 5, has been postponed for lack ' of a quorum. . r', v' Despite two weeks of: behind the ' scenes negotiations the organization's members' remained split , last week on the v question ,i of Help For Down's Syndrome Children Ms. Charmaine Garner (left), a teacher's aide in the Howard University IM PACT program, and Mrs. Terrie Shorter, a parent who works in the program, instruct youngsters in a musical exercise. IMPACT, is designed to stimulate early learning in Down's Syndrome children as well as help parents work with them. Two years ago 24-year-old Terri Shorter of Washington, D.C., was able to go out social ly a couple of times a week. But after the birth of her son, David, she's lucky now if she gets to go out once a month. David wa's born with ; Down's ' Syndrome. Because he also has a heart defect;; David needs constant attention and medication daily. Down's Syndrome, a genetic disorder," is characterized .by mental retardation which ranges from mild to severe and may be accompanied by heart disorders, poor vi sion and respiratory pro blems. It is caused by an . abnormality in the number of chromosomes ' 47 instead of the nor mal 46. Most' persons with the condition have physical features that in clude upward-slanting eyes, flat noses, pro truding tongues and short stature. Down's Syndrome oc curs in approximately one out of every 600 live births. Women under 35 years of age who already have a child with Down's Syndrome as well as women who are over 35 have the greatest chance . of having , a child with Down's Syndrome. The father's age also adds to the risk of producing a jchild with . Down's Syn drome. Parents of children with the condition quick ly learn that bringing up such a child is not an 'easy task. There is help, i .however. Project ; IM-. PACT (Interdisciplinary Model for' Parent and "Child Training), established, at Howard University' in Washington, D.C., also , helps the parents cope by teaching them how to care for their Down's Syndrome children. . Children from birth to ' age three are accepted in- ' to the innovative , pro gram which IMPACT offers free,; of charge. The curriculum includes By Bonnie R. Keys in their home en vironments. There are also forums with infor mation about handicap ped children, parents' needs and health issues. Dr. Rosa Trapp Dukes, the program's director, says IMPACT is different from many other programs designed for' the handicapped because of the intensity of its parent training and participation and because it is specifically for Down's Syndrome children. "Few , pro grams go into the home to train parents as we do, or require parents to par ticipate at the center." Also, she says, few pro grams accept babies at birth. Without IMPACT. all kinds of things. At one time all she wanted to do was lie on her stomach." Ms. Joyce Williams, 38, the mother of . 2 Vi -year-old Joshua, says IMPACT gave her . confidence. "It helped me to put things into . perspective. At first I really didn't know what to do. It takes a weight off my mind to know . that you can expect some of the same things from him that you expect from other kids. He will be ex pected to behave. He will have successes and make progress. At IMPACT Down's Svndrnm. ratt seating the banaran Arat occur in people of every Democratic Republic nationality and all social wK? Morocco has been bat-'' tling the POLISARIO Front for control of the r phosphate-rich f Western . Sahara since Spain' withdrew from the ter ritory in 1976. For years Morocco has walked out; and threatened boycotts; of OAU meetings over the , issue of OAU . recognition of POLISARIO's SADR. . A spokesman for the OAU in New York said Thursday's ; postpone ment was a "temporary setback" . " for the organization and ex plained, "We have, so many other important interests that unite us that one issue will not create the situation which some of our detractors are hoping for, the disbandment of the organization." Some 28 delegations, six short of a. quorum, were present in Tripoli August 5. Many met privately to discuss ways to break the deadlock over, the contentious Western Sahara and' . economic : backgrounds Q.. There is a , social stigma attached to hav--ing Down's Syndrome, . Beard notes. "Because it, is a syndrome that most, people recognize; Down's Syndrome children will experience ridicule because of their facial features."' ' For expectant mothers who want to know, whether they, are carry ing a child with Down's Syndrome, there, is v a diagnostic test called am niocentesis which can be' administered in the fourth month ot pregnancy. . . , : Ms. Edna Simmons knew that she was taking'' a risk when she "became'1 . pregnant at age 41, but she decided she was not going to have the test.. "I was going to have the baby no matter what so why go through the agony of knowing," she says. Now Ms. Sim mons, the mother of 2 '2 -year-old Jon, . whof had Down's Syndrome, v . says "I have accepted it. I'm going to take it one t step at a time." Black High . School Juniors Should Plan To 1 . . ' , u,n. I I r . V m , : nit-. JfM fr A L- , 2j J LOS ANGELES Indian Prime Minister Indira Ghandi with Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley as her side talks to reporters upon her ar rival to Los Angeles. DPI Photo be unable to project as powerful an influence in the international arena, even over the issues "on which it is united: in dependence for Namibia, an end to the white-ruled apartheid boycott.' Westecn Sahara. , i Qaddafi t also said he had documented ' proof that the U.S. actively pursued certain, African leaders to gain support for the Moroccan-led Ms. Shorter says she emDhasizes. would be at a loss. Ms. Williams, who is a Recently she became , single parent, says she scared wnen the pro- does gram's funding was cut , life. by the federal govern- energy into Joshua. I they don't iust hold vour hands and let you cry on Tllp Tho PQAT thwr chmilrW Thov lot larXC-IIIC fOH I you know that it's not hopeless;" Ms, Williams ment. However, new funding was secured from the District of Col umbia government. The only other alter natives for Ms. Shorter are, organizations that" have waiting lists and take children with the If you are now a high school junior, this an nouncement is for you; . Help your , college planning tiow! Gain ex- not have a social ' penence in taking a test "I put a lot of like the College Board Scholastic Aptitude Test possibility under con sideration is the conven ing of an extraordinary summit on the question now dividing the group. The guarded optimism of many of these African leaders stands in sharp contrast to the pessimism expressed by a number of Western journalists in Tripoli. But most leaders agree that as long as the divi sion over the seating of the SADR delegation continues, the pan African organization will state in South Africa, and economic and social One ' developmental concerns. Libyan leader -4 Col Muammar Qaddafi; who is scheduled to becorrre the next chairman of the 1 OAU, in a statement last week blamed "the forces of imperialism and foreign monopoly" for trying to undermine the summit and distract Africans from the pro- blem of "putting an end to foreign subordina tion." They accomplish ed this, Qaddafi claimed, by promoting ' what he called the "secondary political problem" of the A State Department spokesman denied these allegations and challeng ed Qaddafi to produce an African leader who ' could support the Libyan claims. The U.S. official ' went on to charge that the "past and present" activities tf the Libyan government were a ma-v jor reason for the col-' , lapse of the Tripoli sum mit. " break the OAU." ; During the first-ever extraordinary summit of the OAU held in January 1976, African leaders failed to vbreak a deadlock over recogni tion of either the MPLA or the rival FNLA UNITA parties during tti Annnlan rivil war organization recognized the MPLA following a number of military suc cesses by the group. African diplomats assert the organization survived and grew in im portance following this 1 difficult period. r ,In its 19-year history i At the time of the 1976 the OAU has met with t summit failure Daniel similar difficulties which, according to Tan- Arap Moi, then vice ; president of Kenya said. izanian Foreign Minister "This is a sad day. We Salim Salim, helped ' have failed Africa and strengthen and not , the Angolan people." ' really don't have time for myself." Dr." Eugene Beard, IMPACT'S research" coordinator, says that when parents come into the program one of the first things he does is to test them for stress. severe handicaps ; "After we find but most first. David would regress without the everyday training, she says. "IMPACT is the only place I've found where they really care about the kids as people and believe that they will achieve if we (parents) do all that we can do," says M. Gwenith Holcomb, . 26, the mother of 18-month-old Ryan, . who was born with Down's Syndrome. "They really educated us," she adds. "We had genetic ? counseling; we "learned about the rights of the handicapped; and about tax deductions for families with handicap ped children. "Not only does Ryan get what she needs," Ms, Holcomb stresses, "I ; also get the support I ; need so that I can be all I (SAT)l Give yourself the ' opportunity to enter the scholarship competition administered by the Na tional Merit Scholarship Corporation! By taking the" 1982 Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude TestNational Merit Scholarship Qiiali where the stress is, we' jfying Test on Tuesday, structure a parent1 October 19 or on Satur-forum- We bring in per- day, October 23, eligible sons ,with various', black students may enter backgrounds to Rive lec-" the 1984 Achievement f . field visits by counselors can for Rvan. It's reailv who train parents to working. Ryan is crawl stimulate their" children ' ing, sitting up and doing Kenyan Coup (Continued from Page 13) ,' ingly aggressive in lashing out at what he calls "divisive ' elements trying to destroy the peace of the country." On Madaraka Day; i (Kenya's anniversary of I self-government), for ex-' ample, Moi issued v a; lengthy attack on "disgruntled elements.", Subsequently, at a rally, in late July at Eldoret, hej was reported to have said, "Some of the1 dissident) elements went around like rats poison-i ing the mjnds of the peo ple and I had no choice1 ' but to detain them." Ac cording to Kenya's, Weekly Review; Moi, went on to reaffirm his 'intention to continue de taining critics of all' sorts, whether they be public figures or not. George Githif, editor- in-chief of The Stan-' dard. a major Nairobi-' : based newspaper, was ' sacked after publishing a scathing attack on the' government's increasing use of the Detention Act. In a special edition, the management of The Standard ; apologized 1 profusely to the Kenyan' government, 1 and whereas Githii was not detained, his passports was withdrawn. tures. We have in dividual counseling as well," Beard notes. Having a handicapped ' child can either strengthen the parents' relationship or break it up. The divorce rate among people who have handicapped children Is three times higher than those without handicap-: ' ped children. For example, Tern Shorter says her son's' father could not accept the fact that their child .was born with Down's Syndrome. "He will not; admit it but he does not! like to be . around David," she says. . , ? ; Conversely, Holcomb says the relationship bet ween her and her hus band has been strengthened. "Ryan," . - she says, "has brought a sense of joy and unity to our family that no nor mal child could have brought.'.' "Ninety per cent" of our mothers really accept Scholarship competition. .High school officials arrange to administer the PSATNMSQT on one of, these dates; Students should see their school counselor to register-for .the test. Registration deadline is usually about i so prompt action by the student is necessary once school opens forhe fall semester. Students taking the 1982 ' PSATNMSQT will also have the oppor tunity to enter the Col' , lege Board Student, Search Service. Many students who participate 1 in this service receive ( -materials from colleges 'and other post secondary educational institutions informing them of educational and financial aid oppor tunities, .j Act promptly! To ob tain information about eligibility for Achieve ment Program recogni tion and scholarship, .write: National Achieve-' ment Scholarship Pro gram, ; One American Plaza, Evanston, Illinois 60201. their children and are do ing a heck of a lot to see 'that their children, are stimulated at a very early age. We also have a high percentage of fathers . 'coming to meetings and Qfjnjrn participating," JBeard, r . . notes. .1 (Continued From Page 15) Brian Fofsvth. 36.: victimized and emo-k xuhn nfipn.5rmmn5n!p; tinnallv hurt snouse siir- Political observers in i his snn Rrlan Ir tn thp vives and eneaees in Nairobi believe tjie failed ' coup will .almost surely; have the immediate efj feet of creating an at , mosphere of heightened repression. Government critics of all, sorts, it is thought, will be afraid to speak out for fear of a harsh response from the' authorities. President ' Moi; meanwhile, will rlikely take this oppor ttinity to exert his political muscle and will IMPACT center, says that . although coping with problems comes ; naturally to him, the program is great. "It gave me a few more ideas on how to deal with the another relationship. The normal period of I unhappiness or depres-; sion that results from a. broken relationship is a few weeks to several : months. As terrible as it may seem 4 people h ave the inner resource need- problem. ,It taught me' -,ways to help the babv?' - Forsyth says 4he only , ed to adjust '.and move ) problem he has now is ' ahead in their lives, that he may be overly Friendly advice, a show protective with his son... of concern '- and' "I take him everywhere' reassurance are valuable with me. Everybody weapons against the probably go unquestion- spends4more time with- depressions of a ed in doing so. breakup. L X. ; ni i.-HTf,rrmr ui.in, iiiklIiiW .utt in....jfc -t A J
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
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Aug. 14, 1982, edition 1
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