The Goderich Signal-Star, 1966-03-31, Page 6QodPerieh, Sigaal..Star, mhuaNsday,• Marcia 31, 1966.
° ' By.,Paul Carroll
. thio eoimunity, no less.
than 32 yettn sters tender the
age of 4p. are afflicted with the
rest/0144'011S Of 'Mental-retarda-
tett, Their limited intellectual
abilitieswill follow 'thein the.
restof their -Yves.
Mental retardation; rather
than mental disease 'or deterior-
ation, is a lack of normal men-
tal i development. The term
loosely covers those who are
01411 and reaches far down the
line to the vOgetative idiot. In
most cases, .1,;%owever, retarded,
refers to those individuals, ma -I
Wring physically to aduTthoodl i
whose mental ability will never'
surpass that of a child. j
Mental deficiency must not;
be confused_ with.rirental illness. j
Those who are inentally ill were I
at one time normal, and,' due
to some known or' unknown.
cause, have become mentally,
unbalanced. The retarded or
deficient individual is that per-'
son in whom the lack of mental
ttevelopirient has caused a total
intellectual retardation. The
Mental age is relatively static
and the intelligence quotient,;
as compared with the normal;
age -grouping, reinains at a low-'
er level. Roughly three births'
in 100 constitute our papula -I
tion of mentally retarded. It
has been estimated that one-
fifth of 'the general population;
are below normal intelligence.
With our present state of
medical knowledge, -mental de-
ficiency cannot be cured. Per-
haps at some future date, how-,
ever, science will break through
the barriers of the underdevel-
oped mind.
Many specialists in various
fields have made significant ad-
vances in dealing with the men-
tally retarded: Their social ad-
justment can be helped by- the
sociologists; and, with the help
of the psyt•hologists, the educa-
tors have discovered that the
retarded . child may pe trained,
•.-jwithin the limits 'of hisoten
tial as can the normal child.
Many diversified training pro-
grams have become readily a- "-
vailable
The attitude of society at
large leaves -Much tolie desired.!
We have faIler• down somewhat
in our approach to these child-
ren, In the past, the mentally
retarded _have been hated • and l
- --- 'spurned, scoffed -at and "put
away." More `recently, how-
ever, the emphasis in the com-
munity has been on custodial
care and a certain ,amount of
training.
' In Goderich, we' have 'two
segments .of a well developed
program for the partial training
-of these children. and young
adults: -
In order to understand' omental
deficiency and perhaps ponder
'tome of the suggestions that we
could use in our own commun-
Uy, it is essential to learn more
of the nature of mental retard=
ation.
The causative factors are
somewhat confusing, and, more
often than not, very controvers=
Tal. Faulty heredity was once
thought to be the major, con-
tributing factor in the _procre-
ation of retarded children. More
recently, studies have pointed
out that less than one-half of
mentally retarded cases result
from genetical variations, while
the major proportion are a .re-
sult of some change in the or-
ganism prior to, during, or im-
mediately iollowiiig birth. Yet
the later factors remain some-
what Mysterious. Certain
known causes ate:
1) . injury at birth.
2)• gland changes of the mo-
tteer during pregnancy
3) X-ray of the mother, affect-
ing the fetus.
4) certain' diseases of early
childhood accompanied by
high fever.
, Old Wives Tales
Many "o;d wives tales" about
the parents being alcoholics, ex-
treme fright- during pregnancy,
improper nourishment, a ' fall
' in early childhood causing de-
, ficieney, 'are, no doubt, still cir=
culating, but Ire readily dis-
counted by the medical author-
ities. •
There are many levels of men-
tal -deficiency and many clinical
forms. The one type that most
of us identify• is the mongolian.
These are the good-natured,
playful retardates with the char-
acteristic slant eyes, saddle -
shaped nose, and short stubby
fingers. They have been called
the "aristocrats of the mentally
deficient," generally coming
from better families.
It is essential to remerriber,
however, that mental defectives
are found among all social class-
es and all races of mankind.
They are born in villages, towns
and cities; their physical at-
tributes. are as varied as the
rest of the human race. In
short, any couple,, regardless of
background or breeding, can
give birth to a retarded Child.
In the firat five years of life,
the mentally defgetive child is
-usually at home:
.Parents are faced with what
seems to be an impossible chat=
lenge. The accompanying shame
'and embarrassment that are °so
,often exhibited are certainly de.
°,' trimental; ,not only to the par-
etardation: Some Children Are Left
eats, but -to the welfare of the
child. The Various attitudes of
the parents 'are amazing, `They
swing all the ° way `from coin,
plete acceptance 'of the 'situs
a.tion to a - complete denial,' The basic characteristic of
whorein they. refuse to admit mental i n i
or recognize their Child's de- ..defic e ey , s limitation:
- - an Adapting; .in associating; anal
a,
. � 11
ficiency.' ire learning speed. This limita-
It of extreme importance
•
tai;ded child -and' even the im-
possiblities- ve-v oftitheq fail to
see, (or even 'refuse to, see) their
potential ct►ntrcb xti•on.- to ociety.
Limitation
thak t we, as individuals, are able
to cope with the dailysituation&
arottnd us. If we are to Main-
tain our good mental health,
problems must be faced . and
net in the best possible way, It
i� common knowledge that "a
burden faced and shared is
iuuch easier to carry." And so
it must' be with the parents of
a retarded child. The -well-
being of the child is at stake,
1low is this mental deficiency
any different than that defic-
iency of the handicapped 'child
who niust face life with restrict-
ed physical ability?
The parent of the retarded
tion is so great that it extends
to' the learning acid practising
of the simple operations which
the average child picks. up cas-
ually. Yet, upon leaving;s'ehooi,
mentally deficient children must
meet the competition qf the
more capable groups. " Society
does not give them any special
cc,nsideration with respect to
employment; in fact, ordinarily,
it d;ticrr.minates against them.
It is logical, therefore, that the
pnly protection for the mentally
deficient against this condition
is special educational training.
The first attempts to provide
a special forth of training began
about 1900. It was for the
A,pnarently, the entire aim ofabeth school Is in vain.
"education" had been overlook-
ed: to develop the child's men-
tal capacities and contaroi over
emotions 'ter- the point of ade-
quate social adjustment anct par-
ti$ipation, Remedial work will
not suffice; nor Sr'ill a practical
adaptation ,of a normal' practical
program. °
"Occupational education"" is
the general term applied to the
Programs -that have proven most
successful. Occupational educa-
lion is not a technique; rather
it can be cutnpared to the social
studies, in that it provides a
series of occupational - social
skills leading towards social ma-
turity!
The shelt-
ered
mentally retarded, like
other human beings, have differ-
ing intellectual abilities and em-
otional needs. Their social abil-
ities differ as well. With this in
mind, it is important to recog-
nize each retardate as an in-
dividual.
child must place himself above "good" of the normal children At the
the levels of shame, embarrass- that the subnormal students and School Mr Retarded Children,
went and self-pity. The child some unfortunate teacher were etude are presently en -
is a. part of the family unit; and, thrown together in an out of rolled, a
Recently, Qctober, 1965, a
sheltered vorkshop ••program
has been developed,e
over Retardates : v. r 18 are no
longer qualified. to receive the
government grant that keeps
them in the Queen Elizabeth
school'. �this reason, a sh
ered workshop program has
been initiated at the Tinsmen
Clubhouse, under sponsorsii,ip of
the Rotary • Club, Presently
-here are six students attend-
ing. Its main purpose is to con-
tinue the development of the
young adult trainees. The em-
phasis here. is on occupational
activity.
Useful crafts, such as rug -
making, .weaving, and ceramics,
Delp to develop the muscular
co-ordination that is needed in
the vocational activities. ,
Basic Aims
According to the Ontario As-
sociation for the Mentally Re-
tarded, this type of workshop
has four basic aims:
1) To provide training that will
enable The retardate to.func-.
tion in a socially acceptable
pattern.
2) To help the retarded youth
make` the transition into
adult living through training
in' a work situation,
3) To provide an alternative to
institutional care.-
4) TQ prepare the more capable
trainees for placement in
competitive employment.
The training program•is very
flexible. IIere, in Goderich, the
emphasis is an attccrnpt to pro-
vide sheltered 'mploythent with-
in the workshop environment.
The young adults are guided in
the manual tasks of assembly,
packaging, labelling, pasting,
swatching, and du'pli•cating. In
this way, through s'lib-contract
work, the retardate can assist
the manufacturer and the busi-
nessman 'in their various "nuis-
ance" jobs. It is a proven fact
that. the--workshep-.-antity _ can:
produce efficient work: In 1965,
the trainees at one of the Lon-
tardate has Spent in Queen Eliz- don, Ontario, cent,res•complet d
local Queen Elizabeth
11
o
nes
g e five t o 1$ .
for his well-being, it is essen- the-wayCertain elementary academic classroom, and the studies are taught, Social stu-
tial that he be,an'integral part. child's time was spent in mean -
Only with the sincere love and ingless nothingness. Eventually dies: the home, the family, • the
affection that is found in a nor- the thinking changed to. the ef- neighborhood, the community;
mal family relationshipcan the are taught much in the same
feet that the retardates were re-
child be" expected to attain his moved' from the classroom to way as normal primary students
potential. relieve them of the competition receive this instruction. Simple
The reta.ded child can learn. mathematical activities: count
As mentioned above, it is re-
ported that one-fifth of the gen-
cral population has a sub -normal
intelligence level. The ,major-
i-ty of- this ane -fifth earl -benefit
from a modified regular school
program. The recent shift° from
purely academic teaching - to which the average child picks
that of the vocational and tech- or same other time-consuming up easily.
and emotional strain that sup - ling-, telling time, using money;
posedly arose while working!
with normal children, ,'hese
are ensued. Emphasis is placed
..
attempts were just as unproduc-
tive; the same meaningless not)t-
ingness prevailed. After this
period, the retarded child' re-
mained, unattended,- engrossed
in the depths of finger painting
on simple manual tasks: tying
shoes, buttoning clothing, etc.
As mentioned above, their limit-
ations are so great that they
extend to the learning and prae-
tising of the simple operations
nical training programs clearly triviality, in the corner of the - y -
substantia -tee -this fact. The re -,regular elassro on. (Even today, •
Regression
maining few,, the unfortunates, ' in this very school term, -young= The biggest problem, upon
the mentally retarded 'require asters, subnormal to the point of graduation, perhaps is that ,of
different approach to their "edu-; recagnized limitations, are re- possible regression. .The retard
cational" development. No re-; tained in -the classroom where ate tends to- forget and, so to
tardate is capable of gaining suf-ladvancemer,t in the regular cur- speak, "regresses" to earlier pat-
fieient skill €io`m -the -normal-r'rdeul-utn is inconceivable!): ternsof behaviour •lf4here are
educational instruction .ta .meet; In the • 1930's the child was no facilities, public or otherwise,,
the demands of daily living• then tie valuable time the re -
There must be provided, 'there-
fore,specialized training pro-
grams. •
While we recagnize the intel-
lectual limitations of the re-
g
,given handwork to do. It soon
became appy lent, however, that
the - manual.,.-abillty4 f sawing, ,
chiseling, etc. was not 'suretardate
-'TAKING OFF YOUR 'SNOW'S
paining to place the retardate ,... °
in the ranks of skilled labor. BUY NEW REPLACEMENTS
During
B.F. GOODRICH
GODERICH - ' FROSTED FOODS
65 HAMILTON STREET
PHONE' 524-9672
WE -DpLIVER -
Ncl 1 NAME. BRAND
WI'EN ERS
WHOLE ORS' HALF
Side bacon 65c
STANDING.
RIB BOAST
BROWN. & SERVE LEAN MINUTE
STEAK
2 LBS.
5c
SLICED 75c
PRODUCE
SUNKIST 138_
ORANGES
TOMATOES
GROCERIES
GOOD
A,��K
MRGARINE 3 LBS 1.00
77C
LB. 79c
DOZ.
2 LBS:
9c
Sc;
ZIP
Dog Food 10c OR 11 FOR 99c
16 -OZ. SUPREME HOMOGENIZED
PEANUT BUTTER 39c
15 -OZ. LIBBYS
FRUIT COCKTAIL 29c
16 -OZ, and 32 -OZ, HARRY HORNE •
Pancake Syrup29c-53c
LE
FOR THE
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• Nylon Tubeless • -
• All Popui tr Sizes , •
• Better Than Original Equipment
• All Whitewalls •
•
HOWARDS
SHELL SERVICE
51 KINGSTON ST.
524-7752
Pave ' million telephone assem-
blies without one reject.
As an integrO'part of the over;
all program,' uif to 40% of the
time ,should- ha RIDAt in recrea-
tional -social activities. Recrea-
tion, (bowling, community visits;
kating, Aball games), is a good
incentive to maintaining social
'skills and provides an essential
break in the daily routine:
Iii order to carry on, the local
workshop must have sub -con-
tract work froin.the coommunity.
The emphasis on vocational ac-
tivity is important if the retard-
ate is to function actively with-
in- the community. His poten-
tial t productivity can only be
attained if the tcomnmunity en-
deavors to cooperate by offer-
ing active interest and incen-
tive to the workshop program.
As does any other individual,
the • retardate requires self-
esteem and self-respect to main-
tain his good mental health.
When he is able .to see himself
as a productive agent within the
community, then, and only then,
will the real value of all the
years of training and develop-
ment, become apparent. At this
final stage, ,the retarded child
has become a handicapped, yet
productive adult. -
•:r
More than 43 retardates of all
ages etre living in our commun-
ity at this time. Fifteen are
Behind
Oder, the age of five; of the re-
inaining 28.plus, only 17 have
found care and training within
the available facilities. The
number .of retardates isgrowing
each year:
It would appear, perhaps, that
access to the
is available facilities
'itide mte: Nothing More
can be said.
As we, the community, sup-
port our normal children, so
should we provide the same fac-
ilities for our sub -normal off-
spring. This is a moral obliga-
tion to supply equal opportunity
for advancement to all of our
children. Is a basement class-
room or a small clubhouse room
adequate to ensurethe educa-
tional training of our reardates?
The responsibility for sup-
porting our iaerltally deficient,
youngsters surely does not rest
entirely with a service club, or
the Association for the Mentally
Retarded. The community re-
sponsibilities rest with our mun-
icipal governments. Measures
should be taken to see- that the
responsibility is assumed.
Most children are nurtured
nd led through the paths of
public education; their social,
adjustment and preparation for
employment are maintained by
readily available, ever-increas-
ing facilities.
Other children, the retarded
children, are left behind.
1NGO.a LEGION u HALL '
Saturday, April 2
at 8:30 p.m.
15 GAMES --r $1.00 . The prize for each regular,game will be $12,00
4 Share -The -Wealth Jackpot Combined.
JACKPOT° OF $85.00 IN 56 CALLS
Sponsored by Branch 109, ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION
No One Under -16___ -Permitted To Play
•
THIS WEEKS
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Ideally located, only three blocks from Square, this tllree-
bedroom, medium priced home features large living room,
dining -room and kitchen and is gas heated. See'this one
soon.
Exclusively Listed By:
HAROLD W. SHORE
REAL ESTATE BROKER
38 Hamilton Street
Dial 524-7272
11
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BREAD 4 FOR 75d
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RE1tLY
WEST STREET
SUNDAY r.SERVICES-.
ST. GEORGE'S CHURCH
April 3 -- Palm Sunday
8,30 a.m. Holy Communion
'11;00 a,m.—Blessing of Palms and Morning
Prayes,
(Nursery for Pre -School -Children)
t-10:.
Sunday
Sehotid. a ani 11,
.• �-
5:00 p,m. Evensong (in chancel)
*r - 7:00 p.m, Combined serviceGwith North St.
United Church at St. . George's
,- DIALOGUE SERMON THEME
'"; United Church Worship
Wednesday, April 6
7:30 a.m.--Ho)y Communion -and Breakfast
9:30 a.m. Holy Communion '
Maundy Thursday
7:00 p.m. Holy Communion after which Altar will be
stripped
Good., Friday
12:00 noon to 3:00 p.m. Devotions
Rector; REV. G.,,,<G. RUSSELL, B.A.,,,B,D.
Mr. B. Ki#pster, Organist and Choirmaster
,e i1111
THE UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA
North•
Sheet United' Church --
LENT VI — SUNDAY, APRIL 3rd
10:00 a.m, 'Junior .to Senior Suniay School
1100 a.m. Morning Worship
11:00 a.m. Kindergarten — Junior Dept.
Messengers meet in C;E. Hall
11:00 a.m. Holy Communion
Confirmation
Reception by transfer
1:00 p,m. Communicants" Dinner
7:00' p.m. Dialogue Series .in St. George's,
"The Unity We Seek."
3.—United Church Worshiii
WELCOME
Service Good Friday — 11:00 a.m.
The Rev: J. Donald MacDonald; B.Sc.,• B.D.—Minister
Mr. Lance Reed, Organist and Choir Director
Knox Presbyterian Church
THE . REV. G. LOCKHART ROYAL, B.A., Minister
William Cameron, Director of Praise
PALM SUNDAY, APRIL 3rd
10:.O0.a.m., Church School
10:10. a.m. Ministers `3ib1e Class
11:00 a.m. Service of Worship
Sermon: "Two Sides of One Wall"
(Nursery andT dvnior Congregation)
1:00 p.m. P.Y.P.S. 'Presbytery Rally •
7:00 p:m. Rally Service
Rev. D. J. Crawford, Listowel
'ENTER TO WORSHIP DEPART TO SERVE
•
' THE UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA
Victoria Street United Church
11:00 a.m. Sunday School
11:00 a.m. Morning Worship — "The Holy Communion"
1:30 p.m. Benmiller: Church and Sunday School '
Reception of Members — Ordination of Elders
REV. HUGH C. WILSON, Minister
MRS. J. SNIDER, Organist • -
FIRST BAPTIST - CHURCH,
(Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec)
Montreal Street Near TheSquare
10:00 a.m. Sunday School
11:00 a.m.—Morning Worship
7:00 p.m.—Evening Worship
Everyone Welcome
Minister: REV. HENRY de VRIES, Phone -524.8792
-----FREE-- METHODIST CHURCH
Corner Victoria and Park Streets
9:50 a.m. Sunday School
11:00 a.m. Worship Service m <
7:00 p:m. Evangelistic Service
Rev. R. L. Gordon, of Clarksburg, Ont., in charge
Wed., 7.30 p.m. — Prayer Meeting and Bible Study
THE SALVATION ARMY
CAPTAIN and MRS. ROY WOMBOLD
9:45 a.m. Sunday School
1.1:00 a.m. Family Worship
7:00 p.m. Salvation, Meeting
EVERYONE WELCOME
Bethel Pentecostal Tabernacle
Corner of Elgin -and Waterloo Sts.
°
REV. ROBERT CLARK, Pastor
SUNDAY, APRIL 3rd
10:00 a.m. Sunday School Classes for all ages.
11:00 am: Morning, Worship
7:30 p.m.—Evangelistic Service.
Fri. 8:00 p.m.—Young People's Service.
E,i Sunday, 5.30 p.m. Hear Jack West over station
C -11 -L -O., St. Thomas
.010001
CALVARY ° BAPTIST CHURCH
BAYFIELD ROAD AT BLAKE STREET
SUNDAY, APRIL 3rd
SUNDAY SERVICES
10:00 a m. furiiay_Satool'- ' Ilii* the Bus =-- 5247622
11:00 km -MORNING SERVICE
7:30 f.m. EVENING SERVICE
Wed.r 7':30 p.m. - Romans verse by verse
Pastor: REV. T. LESLIE HOBBINS, B.A.
''‘11 Vann Welcome To All"
4'