Page Mz July 11, 1990. This Week

Ten per cent of population afflicted b

@ @ ) bl h d @ @ @ : @ ®@

invisible handicap - learning disability

By JENNIFER BLYTH to focus on the positive attributes number of learning disabled in- also been linked to learning dis- Heh i i
Special to This Week of the people. dividuals in juvenile detention, abilities and Atamanenko points ies oer pees a
tcould Winston Often throughout their lives, those people also have a higher out that “we really don’t know and their functions, but when it #

Churchill, Cher, people in authority - bosses or chance of being caught for their enough about the brain. Its the came down to the written exam
Whoopi Goldberg teachers - are telling these people offenses. final frontier.” he failed. When the same thing
and a Grade di they are lazy or dumb. Positive Even in the criminal world, the David understands this ig- occurred the following year, the

5 Nene beh reinforcement is necessary to ability to read, write and process _ norance ofthe brain’s capabilities teacher realized something was
ole ae a sible PeeE Some ceemblanve of self information is essential to suc- and dysfunctions. wrong.

f esteem and confidence. cess. “Ithought everyonehadtrouble —_ David was allowed to
handicap. Something that ex- She helps people get cluedinto _ And, Atamanenko says, only in Se ae “I have just test orally, and ae ae a
perts conservatively estimate their capabilities, she says. They the last 10-12 years has it been thought it was hard.” cent - the highest ever.
afflicts 10 per cent of the need self assurance because they discovered that children with | When it was apparent David David is continuing to beat the

tion: thatafflicts 85 come to accept themselves as learning disabilities grow up to was having difficulties, his odds by using his auditory
popular : SOD PE second class citizens. be adults with learning dis: parents sent him to the READ strengths and talents in his spare
cent of those in our juvenile David Corry, a Spectrum Com- abilities. They do not grow out of Society for help. For Grades 3 time and his own business. He
pnsonsystem;that,atthevery munity School student, agrees. it and the problems do not go
least, probably afflicts 60 per © When he was in elementary away.
cent of those in the adult School, he was told he was stupid “They live on the outside of life,”
prisons. by both teachers and a principal. ending up on the very bottom of
Aeoblem that pence This is a common, difficulty that the labor force, she says. “They
45 tae foe eel people with learning disabilities wind up either unemployed, un-
©; gnored, face their entire lives, deremployed, or in transient
even denied, by the govern- _ At first they are told, “You're a jobs”
ment and teachers. smart kad, you could do itifyou ‘The centre has asked various
The problemis called alearning tried.” But the child is trying as government agencies for help
disability. Tt covers anything hard as he or she can. Here the keeping afloat, but has so far
from dyslexia -a disturbance in frustration starts to take root. been unsuccessful. Even though
the ability to read - to difficulties This frustration can lead tobe- Canada Manpower acknow-
with short-term memory and havioral problems, followed by ledges it as an approved resource
language processing. visits to the principal's office and centre, and even though they
Gloria Atamanenko helps counsellors. help up to 100 Victoria adults a

people assess their capabilities
and difficulties at the Learning
Disabilities Association in Vic-
toria. The centre, she says, likes

The student is labelled as a
trouble maker, and the cycle
begins. Atamanenko points out
though, that while there isa high

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year, the provincial government

keeps giving them the
runaround,
And not all of those who come

into the centre are young men
and women on social assistance.
Several people in their 50s and
60s have come through the door,
people who have managed to get
through their lives, but always
wondered why things seemed to
be so much more difficult.

David Haslam, another staff
member at the centre, says “It’s
never too late to accommodate a
learning disability.”

There is often a feeling of relief
when individuals find out. They
realize they have an inborn dif-
ficulty - they are not dumb or
stupid.

Because the clients are often on
welfare, unemployment in-
surance or in social housing, and
because they have a medical and
often mental health problem,
Atamanenko believes funding
should be an interministerial
responsibility. Social assistance
‘is a frustration to them and an
expense to the taxpayer.”

“We as a society are not having
the advantage of what they can
contribute,” she says, because
these people are not dumb. Often
they have average or above
average intelligence.

The centre did receive a one-
time grant from Saanich
municipality to off-set the cost of
programs during Learning Dis-
abilities Week, March 5-12, but
much of the fundraising is done
by staff members.

Haslam says they have to ap-
proach various organizations for
grants and donations, or hold
events like their ‘no-show
dinner’. People bought tickets for
adinnerthen didn't show up. The
centre managed to earn about
$2,500.

Some genetic problems can be
linked to the disabilities, par-
ticularly those related to preg-
nancy. Complications such as
premature birth, difficulties with
RH factor, and fetal alcohol
syndrome are all connected.

Environmental problems such
as lead and zinc emissions have

OUTSMARTING A DISABILITY isn’t an easy task. But David Cory
doesn't let his learning disability stop him from achieving his
goals.

through Grade 5 David received
tutoring. Finally in Grade 6 he
entered a late French immersion
program at Oaklands Elemen-
tary. All the other kids had been
in the program since Kindergar-
ten he says, but soon he caught
up.

People thought this was
ridiculous, he remembers. They
thought that if he couldn't get a
handle on the English language,
how could he possibly learn
another one?

But David proved them wrong.
And he did it with flying colors.

Because French is highly
auditory, it’s easy for him to pick
up. Where he finds it difficult to
read things and retain them, ifhe
hears information, he can store,
understand and utilize it.

Since then, David has reached
the top of his class, and has been
on the honor roll three years in a
row. He spent a month in France,
learning the culture and brush-
ing up on the differences in our
own Quebecois French and that
on the Continent.

He even challenged the French
11 final exam, passed it and has
written the French 12 final this
month, a year ahead of the rest of
his grade.

No one was really quite sure
how serious David's difficulties
were until he won a position sail-
ing on the Robertson II, a local
ship that Lansdowne, his junior
high school, chartered for stu-
dents who had placed on the
honor roll.

During this trip, the students
are required to take tests on
charts and on the parts of the
ship.

plays the saxophone and the

clarinet, and while he has troubleag.

reading the sheet music, he is
able to hear it and memorize it.
In fact, he and the Spectrum
Band recently returned from the
Winnipeg National Festival for
Jazz with a silver award.

His canned music business,
which he runs with a friend,
plays at local dances, and he even
had a shot at disc jockeying at
Spinners, a now defunct Victoria
teen club.

In his room, which he says he
designed himself for acoustics
(his own mini studio), compact
disk players, speakers, and
mixing equipment line the walls
and table. He mixes Madonna
and the Technotronics, creating
his own versions of the songs.

In another year, he will enter
Camosun College's science and
technology department, moving
towards a career in recording.
Perhaps he will work with his
uncle, a sound engineer in Van-
couver, or perhaps he will become
a roadie with a band.

But whatever he does, his
desire and appreciation for hard
work will see him successful.

The Learning Disabilities
Centre is sending out question-
naires to help people determine
whether they may have a dis-
ability. After a year of school,
Haslam says, kids often have a
very low self esteem, they have
nothing to look forward to, so the
centre has developed summer
programs for youth. For more in-
formation, call 386-9511.

‘

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