daily nebraskan
monday, January 14, 1980
page 6
Afflicted child is taught to reach potential
By Kathryn Haugstatter
Abby is beautiful and she knows it.
As her eyes play peek-a-boo, she dares
you not to grin back at her. Not one word
is said, but much is communicated. This
17-month-old charmer has an enormous
ability to make friends.
Abby also has Down's Syndrome.
It is known by another name-mongo-lism.
It means those twinkling eyes are
slightly slanted, the forehead is flat. The
fingers reaching for another Cheerio are
stubby. And no words are spoken because
she can't talk yet. She's mentally retarded.
Abby has respiratory problems so the
house must be kept very humid and her
mattress tilted. A special cream is rubbed
on her three times a day to treat her ex
tremely dry skin. She has a hearing loss in
both ears that was only recently discovered
and a partially-cleft palate.
Heart trouble
But Abby's mother, Elaine Rod, says
she's very lucky, Many children with
Down's Syndrome have heart problems,
but Abby doesn't, Many of them do not
get the help they need when they need it,
Abby has been in school since she was
three weeks old, As a result, Rod said her
development has been near normal,
Abby was born in Ann Arbor, Mich, I ler
doctor noticed something different about
the way she looked and ordered chromo
some tests,
The tests showed that Abby had 47
chromosomes instead of the normal 46.
The normal human cell contains 23 pairs of
chromosomes, Instead of containing two
chromosomes in the 21st pair, Abby's cells
contain three, The result is called Down's
Syndrome,
Emotional support
The doctor called his former nurse who
had a monogoloid baby, She went to see
Rod, gave her lists of people to call for
help and called some of them for her, She
tried to answer questions Rod had and gave
her emotional support.
Federal law requires all states to provide
education for handicapped children from
the age of three to 21. Michigan and Ne
braska have gone beyond that, providing
education from the time of diagnosis.
Rod said a baby's first three years are
vitally important. All children need stimu
lation when they're young to help them
develop properly. It is even more impor
tant for the handicapped children, she said.
Rod, her husband and 10-year-old
daughter Tanya moved to Nebraska last
August shortly before she began teaching
speech classes at UNL. About that time
Janet and Mike Ansell moved to Lincoln
from Omaha,
Pilot Parents
The Ansells had belonged to an organi
zation in Omaha called Pilot Parents Pro
gram, This group, which formed several
years ago, consists of parents of handi
capped children who have been trained to
help parents who have recently learned
their child has a disability.
The Ansells started the program here,
but had to move again. So Rod took over
the chairmanship,
There are now six trained couples in the
program, All of them have a child who is
physically or mentally handicapped or
both.
Rod said the group offers the emotional
support and understanding that can only
; come when you've raised a handicapped
! child, The group also provides factual in
formation about the various dissabilities
and the medical services, educational pro
grams and supportive agencies that are
available, she said,
Rod said the group has been asked to
give in-service programs for medical, per
sonnel at various Lincoln hospitals. Lea
Eunice, assistant professor at the Univer
sity of Nebraska Medical Center College of
Nursing, requested a two-hour course on
emotional adjustment to the handicap ex
perience for the nursing program at UNL in
February,
- t , i
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Professional people involved ..with, the
handicapped will be invited to attend an In- v
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formation night in February to learn how changed the future for these children.
IU juunv uunga cuaiwi iui uiv puiwui vi ct
handicaDned child. Another special event
will involve brothers and sisters of handi
capped children, who "often feel left out
in the cold," Rod said.
Abby lets Rod know she wants another
Cheerio. An occupational therapist re
commended them because grasping the
round shape helps develop the grip, -
Almost everything Abby does is geared
toward fulfilling her potential. She attends
school from eight-thirty to three, Monday
through Friday at the Child Development
Center at Trinity Methodist Church.
The Rods won't know for several years
how much Abby's mental growth has been
retarded. Rod said mongoloid children
used to be considered uneducatable but
early diagnosis and special education has
When Rod takes Abby oustide the
house, people stare at her. They know
something isn't quite right, but they are
afraid to say anything, she said.
"Parents who take their children into
the community must feel okay about it.
People shouldn't be afraid to come up to
them and say 'that's a cute baby, I was
wondering, is there a problem?' People are
relieved to know and talk about it," Rod
said.
If your child is handicapped, he or
she needs all the help they can get. As
parents or grandparents, you also need
help. The members of Pilot Parents Pro
gram can't call you, you must call them.
The program is affiliated with the
Capital Association for Retarded Citi
zens. The phone number is 477-6925.
Elaine Rod's number is 483-1238.
International House paper
well received by residents
International House has broadened its name for the newspaper. The paper was
scope of activities with the addition of a selected because of a desire for simplicity,
monthly newspaper entitled the paper, he said,
The first edition was published Nov, 15
and because of favorable response,
publication will continue into second
semester, said Prabha Unnithan, editor of
the paper, ! ' 7
About 50 copies are circulated to house
residents, . International Educational
Services, the Office of University Housing
and,, .others,, assoqafed Vlyi.t,h ,, the.! house,
Unnithan said, , , , ". . . . '
International House, located in Neihardt
Residence Hall, is a "small community,"
Unnithan said, Half of the 72 students who
live in the house are from foreign
countries, ; .
The purpose of the paper is to get
residents involved in the house, said
Unnithan, a native of Malaysia, It also
enables them to learn more about its
residents,
The Idea of a newspaper was mentioned
during a meeting of International House
students, Unnithan said,
"We got a tremendous response," he
said, adding that 47 people suggested a
Unnithan, a' graduate student in
sociology, said he became editor because of
his interest in journalism, i :
The paper is financed by money setl
aside by the housing office for special
activities, he said, Though he didnit know
the cost of putting out an issue, Unnithan
said the writing, editing, typing and photo
icopyhig is done (..entirely, iihyresidcrits,
There arc five staff members, he said,
but some articles are written by non-staff
members who volunteer to contribute,
Staff and writers may differ from issue to
issue in an attempt to get more people
involved, Unnithan said,
To determine what should be covered in
the paper, the staff must "keep tabs on
what's going on" within the house, he said.
About 10 days before deadline the staff
meets to decide what articles should be
written,
Unnithan said the paper tries to cover
achievements of house residents, house
activities and information about different
residents and their country.
We'll be open until 9 p.m.
Monday through Thursday
this week with everything
you'll need for second se
mester classes.
r
1135 R Street Lincoln Center 476-0111