Presentation to the Rotary Club of Chatham Sunrise

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Presentation to the Rotary Club of Chatham Sunrise

• Art Stirling
• Executive Director,
• Community Relations Fund Development
• 2009/08/11

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Childrens Treatment Centre of Chatham-Kent

• established by parents of disabled children in
  1948
• formerly Prism Centre for Audiology and
  Childrens Rehabilitation, and before that, the
  Kent County Childrens Treatment Centre
• governed by volunteer board 40 employees
• core funding from the Ministry of Children
  Youth Services
• annual operating budget of 3 million (86
  government)
• member, Ontario Assn. of Childrens
  Rehabilitation Services
• children from birth through to age 18
• Lark Street location in Chatham, partner at Best
  Start hubs across the Municipality of
  Chatham-Kent
• focus is on family-centred support (one window
  approach)
• deliver a broad range of quality paediatric
  therapy services

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Physiotherapy

• Physiotherapists help with the development of
  movement skills from infancy through to the teen
  years. To assist with movement, physiotherapists
  may prescribe equipment such as standers and
  walkers.

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Occupational Therapy

• Self help, play and getting ready for school are
  the primary jobs for children. Occupational
  therapists evaluate how a child is functioning
  and help children to be as independent as
  possible during their daily routines. OTs also
  evaluate seating, feeding and infant, preschool
  and school aged development.

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Speech/Language Pathology

• Speech/language pathologists help children with
  difficulties such as sound production,
  understanding and use of language (words,
  gestures, pictures, symbols), feeling, voice and
  fluency.

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Audiology

• Audiologists work to help clients hear well.
  While children are our priority, all ages are
  offered in-depth hearing assessments.
  Hearing-related counselling is available as well
  as an on-site hearing aid dispensary for
  convenience.

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Social Work

• Social workers engage children, adolescents and
  their families, individually and in groups, to
  provide assessments, education, support and
  counselling. They provide information on how to
  access community resources such as financial aid,
  child care, specialized counselling or
  psychological services.

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Respite

• This is a short-term in-home program provided to
  families who are caring for a child with special
  needs. Qualified staff allows parents time out
  to take care of personal needs.

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Music Therapy

• Music therapists help to develop the childs
  attention span, communication as well as motor
  and social skills through singing, playing
  instruments and exploring expressive movements.
  In the past couple years, the Nintendo Wii system
  has become an integral tool in this program.

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Adapted Recreation

• Introduces children and youth to recreation and
  leisure activities in the community and at the
  Centre that are tailored to meet the needs of the
  disabled. Programs available include sledge
  hockey, sailing, boccia, golf, fishing, swimming,
  dance, gymnastics, to name a few.

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Specialized Services

• Seating Equipment Clinic
• Paediatric Clinics
• Pool for Therapeutic and Recreation Use
• Infant Team
• Pre-School Stars
• School Age Team

• Summer Camps
• Infant Hearing
• Blind/Low Vision
• Lead Agency for Early
• Words Pre-School
• Speech Language
• Program
• Best Start Partner

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Childrens Treatment Centre Foundation of
Chatham-Kent

• incorporated in 2007
• granted registered charity status by CRA in late
  2008
• governed by volunteer board one employee
• our mission is to increase the Centres profile
  in the community and, in so doing, raise and
  manage funds to ensure the sustainability and
  growth of enhanced programming offered through
  the Centre
• annual donations, targeted campaigns, planned
  giving, endowment funds, sponsorships, grants,
  special events
• recently launched our first campaign

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Imagine, just for a moment, what it would be
like

• If you couldnt verbalize your wants or needs
• If you couldnt say please or thank you, hello or
  goodbye, or I love you Mom
• If you couldnt order in a restaurant or answer a
  question at school or visit with family at
  Thanksgiving or Christmas

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That is the reality faced by many children in
our community.

• non-verbal due to medical condition or
  developmental delay
• require support of speech therapists,
  communicative disorders assistants and
  occupational therapists
• can be individually assessed and prescribed with
  augmentative or alternative communications (AAC)
  tools to assist them with speech or writing
• must do so at accredited AAC Clinic (closest is
  Thames Valley Childrens Centre in London)
• local option needed

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Childrens Treatment Centre to provide a local
solution.

• has embarked on an 18 month process to establish
  our own General Level AAC Clinic
• mentoring agreement in place with Thames Valley
  Childrens Centre
• must be accredited by the Ministry of Health and
  Long Term Cares Assistive Devices Program
• in addition to staff expertise, large amount of
  costly equipment (32 separate items) must be
  acquired for child assessment purposes

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Goal of 50,000

• to establish and equip Chatham-Kents own
  Augmentative and Alternative Communications
  Clinic
• to help children who cant speak or write to
  connect with their world

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Huge benefit for families and to the community of
Chatham-Kent.

• will initially serve 50 complex needs children
  and more than 100 mild needs children, with
  opportunity to serve more children as program
  grows
• will greatly reduce wait times (for initial
  assessment, currently 18 to 24 months)
• will reduce travel requirements for families
• will facilitate more comprehensive family-centred
  support with more services under one roof
• will allow the development of AAC expertise
  locally
• will expand provincial capacity in the area of
  AAC

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But most importantly .

• Will allow non-verbal children to communicate
  with their
• parents
• siblings and extended family
• caregivers and therapists
• teachers
• friends and peers
• Greatly increasing their self-confidence, their
  independence and their quality of life.

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What do parents of special needs children in
Chatham-Kent think?

• When you have a child that cannot communicate
  with words, you understand how truly precious
  communication is. Having access to AAC is a true
  gift. Guyanne Smoke, Pain Court
• Augmentative communication for Jordan has
  absolutely 100 opened up her world. Janet
  Lindsay, Blenheim
• Kiara is now able to manipulate a keyboard for
  text or command entry and direct a pointing
  device to her intended target. The change is
  nothing short of miraculous.
• Derek McGivern, Wallaceburg

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What do parents of special needs children in
Chatham-Kent think?

• Communication is perhaps one of the most
  important tools that a person can have. It is
  important that children such as our daughter
  Ella, who face difficulty in this area, be given
  every opportunity to full express themselves and
  to fully interact with their peers. Having a
  clinic here in Chatham would expedite the
  assessment process and give Ella the tools she
  currently needs to communicate with her teachers
  and friends in the classroom. Mike Becky
  Timmermans, Chatham
• Candace is enjoying using the device and we have
  noticed a much lower level of frustration when
  trying to connect with others.
• Darlene Crow, Thamesville

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Your support will make a difference.Thank you
for your attention.Any questions?