THE BATTALION
MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1979
Page 3
Program helps infants
By PHYLLIS J. POWELL
Special to the Battalion
At first glance, the class of 3-year-
olds playing and running around the
wooden floored classroom was like
any other day school class of their
peers.
Two boys threw bean bags
through the clown while a girl rode a
tiny tricycle around the room.
Another girl was rocking in a wooden
structure whose flip side formed a
:iny set of stairs; three steps up,
:hree steps down. A third girl rushed
rom one toy to the next.
But after a few moments it became
obvious that this class was different.
Several of the children laughed as
hey played, but none of them
alked.
This class is one of the two classes
he Bryan Mental Health and Men-
al Retardation Center (MH-MR)
jffers in its Infant Stimulation-
Parent Training program.
“The program is available to any
diild 3-years-old or under that is
dentified as delayed in develop-
nent,” said Sue Leysath-McBeth,
:he program s director.
The program is divided into two
parts. The First Steps Forward sec
tion is designed for infants up to 2-
years old who show some sign of de
velopmental delay.
The second part of the program is
a day school program for 2- and 3-
year-olds who show some problems
in their development. But these
children must be able to walk to
attend the day classes.
The classes, Leysath-Mcbeth
said, are available to children of all
income levels. There is no charge.
The Texas Educational Agency
provides some of the funding for the
developmental skills program for the
2- and 3-year olds. The rest of the
funds are provided by Grant-in-Aid
and local donations. The First Steps
Forward program for the infants re
ceives all of its money from private
donations and the Grant-in-Aid
program.
The children are referred to the
First Steps Forward program by
physicians, friends, the Health De
partment or by their parents.
Leysath-McBeth said they use the
Koontz Developmental Program as a
guideline for determining what
levels the children are functioning.
ALTERATIONS
Four skill areas are tested: gross
motor, fine motor, social and lan
guage. The Koontz guideline gives
th staff an idea of what the child
should be able to do at certain ages.
The results of the evaluation deter
mine what children are admitted to
the program.
The infants are seen in their
homes three times each week for one
hour sessions with the parents and
the teachers.
There are two home teachers in
the First Steps Forward program.
They are trained to exercise or sti
mulate the babies in the areas they
need help in. While they are exercis
ing the babies they also show the
parents how to perform the exer
cises.
There are 36 children in the First
Steps program and 14 others still in
the application stage.
The day school program for the 2-
and 3-year-olds is divided into two
classes. One meets on Monday,
Wednesday and Friday mornings
and the other is held on Tuesdays
and Thursdays.
The classes are held in the clas
sroom annex of the First Free Will
Baptist Church in Bryan.
The special education teacher for
developmental skills is Linda Led
better. She has four teaching assis
tants who are students at Texas A&M
University and are interning for the
MM-MR Center.
We emphasize the behavioral
approach, Leysath-McBeth said.
“We encourage good behavior by re
warding it with praise.
Only three of the students in the
day care program are classified as
mentally retarded and only three of
the 36 infants are classified as re
tarded, although the majority do
have significant delays.
“But we try not to label these
kids,” Leysath-McBeth said. “We
try to give them all th help we can
without burdening them with
labels. ”
It
IN THE GRAND TRADITION OF
OLD TEXAS WHERE MOTHER
TAUGHT DAUGHTER THE FINE
ART OF SEWING — SO HELEN
MARIE TAUGHT EDITH MARIE
THE SECRETS OF SEWING AND
ALTERATIONS
“DON’T GIVE UP — WE LL
MAKE IT FIT!"
AT WELCH'S CLEANERS. WE NOT
ONLY SERVE AS AN EXCELLENT
DRY CLEANERS BUT WE SPE
CIALIZE IN ALTERING HARD TO
FIT EVENING DRESSES. TAPERED
SHIRTS, JEAN HEMS, WATCH
POCKETS, ETC.
(WE RE JUST A FEW
BLOCKS NORTH OF FED
MART.)
The
is, whodi
the
ed Oman
ainst
ivyam is II
e western
poets we
itself. %
WELCH’S CLEANERS
3819 E. 29th (TOWN & COUNTRY SHOPPING CENTER^
The Cow Hop
The Biggest
Burger Bargains
in B-CS!
Now has a
limy Bayer, member of Lambda Sigma, a
jphomore honor society, straightens up
Ihristmas trees in front of the Commons on
Tree sale ends today
the southside of campus. Lambda Sigma will
sell the trees from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. today in
front of the Commons. Battalion photo by John Littman
WHAT DO THESE PEOPLE
HAVE IN COMMON?
irloin
bM researcher to gather info
^ogram to study drownings
A Texas A&M University resear-
:r in Galveston has begun a two-
ir study of the thousands of water-
ated deaths in Texas since 1971 to
Ip design a safety program catered
preventing more tragedies.
The search, said Dr. James
:Cloy ofTexas A&M University at
Iveston, will examine when, how
ivhy drownings and other water-
delated deaths occurred on Texas
ivers, lakes and bays from 1971 to
1978, First phase of the project will
titrated on the coastal zone.
iVith 367 air miles of marine coast-
and 2.8 million acres of inland
rater, Texas has the nation’s second
ighest death toll from aquatic acci-
lenfs, said McCloy.
|An average of 608 people died
annually from 1970 to 197 in water-
irelated accidents, he said.
■The study is being supported by
819,000 from the Texas A&M Sea
Grant College Program and $9,968
from the Moody Foundation, he
said.
Through Sea Grant's public edu
cation programs, he said, safety mea
sures can be implemented at hazar
dous locations during seasons when
dangerous water activities occur
most.
Data for the eight-year period is
being gathered on a confidential
basis from the Texas Health Depart
ment, Texas Parks and Wildlife De
partment and from coroners in the
coastal counties of Harris, Galveston
and Nueces where Houston, Galves
ton and Corpus Christi are located.
About 32 percent oo all water fatali
ties occur on the coast.
McCloy said drownings are the
number 2 killer of persons under
age 45, second only to automobile
accidents. California, with its 840
miles of coast, is the leading state for
drownings while Texas is second.
The search, said McCloy, will ex
amine a number of circumstances,
including whether drugs or alcohol
were involved, what kinds of clothes
were worn, where and when the
accident happened and what kind of
activity was involved.
Information correlated by the
computer should tell Sea Grant spe
cialists and other safety officials
where to concentrate efforts in draw
ing up procedures and management
techniques, he explained.
The information might also point
to whether environmental changes
such as a new lake or beachfront de
velopment tend to increase or de
crease water-related death rates in
specific geographical areas.
David A. Eubank
Mark Jones
Steve Sisney
Cindy Crowell
Scott Hennis
Dennis Walters
Catherine A. Woehrmann
Barry Rosson
Susan Neal
Cynthia Crowell
1 Robert Schneeburg
Robert Merkelz
Joan Kelly
Daniel Oaks
Robert Green
Colan Devereaux
David Mellina
Jefferson Dutton
Gary Blanton
Mike Dillow
Steve Rawles
James Vick
Paul Names
Sherrilynn Rollins
Stephen DuPlantis
Tamera Schuyler
Patricia Davis
Erin Frazier
Dolly Elliott
Penny Lynn
Karen Kingston
Paula Fadale
Ronald Rand
Gary Blanton
William Crump
Carol Hageman
Margaret Hennen
teak
$095
with French
fries and
Texas Toast —
(Available only after 3 p.m., Mon.-Sat.)
Sodas — Teas (30-45c) — Long necks Beer (60c)
Open 10:30-9:00 Everyday
846-1 588 317 university dr.
■ WWW (NORTHGATE)
Seven-party system lives on
United Press International
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Nearly 90
Jercent of all American households
(ave given at least one party in the
ast year, for a total of 527 million
rashes by the end of November. A
tudy by Hallmark, which manufac-
(77-781
liffl StliJ;
en onefl‘ :
vas fo
YhePab
;mber oil
Tau, ft
AIAA
. Anier
liswayl
condole 1 ;
tier’s
in mentf
andr
ttobe#'
n Cluft
Assoc' 1 '
-7
ii5A
rri
turers disposable paper tablecloths
and other party goods, indicates one-
third of the households gave two-
thirds of the parties. The average
household gave seven parties in the
12-month period covered by the re
port.
MEN-WOMEN
Could you use $225
a month for college?
If you could, start now. Enlist in the Army, save
between $50 and $75 a month from your pay, and it
will be matched $2 for $1 under the Veterans’ Edu
cational Assistance Program. After your first
enlistment, that could mean up to $225 a month for
education.
Call Army Opportunities
120 Washington Ave.
Bryan, Tx
Ph. 822-5713/1569
Join the people who’ve joined the Army.
An Equal Opportunity Employer
ji
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