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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 26, 1981)
Page 6 THE BATTALION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1981 AGGIE CLEANERS 111 College Main 846-4116 "THE CLEANERS AT NORTHGATE. Local Cerebral palsy makes walking a victory Rachael improves in special ed class // Ask about our Discount Cards Savings up to 20% This is the final story in a three- part series on the special prob lems of handicapped children. HUGHES TOOL COMPANY Hughes Tool Company — Houston, Texas — will interview May and Summer Computing Science and Math graduates on campus Thursday, March 5, 1981. Candidates will interview for positions as Pro grammer/Analysts at Corporate Headquarters located in Houston, Texas. Hughes Tool utilizes state-of-the- art hardware and software — IBM 3033 mainframe using MVS, CICS, TSO and JES2 supporting a large teleprocessing network. Excellent opportunities for advancement in a professional environment. Current projects include Inventory Control, Material Requirements, Planning, Shop Process Monitoring and On-line Financial Reporting. Primary languages are COBOL and Mark IV utilizing on-line editing, test ing and inter-active debugging. Register at Career Planning and Placement Center, 10th floor-Rudder Tower. By MARJORIE MCLAUGHUN Battalion Staff Rachael’s expressive brown eyes survey the room and her smile deepens when she sees her teacher. Her stiff fingers move slowly down to point at the symbol for swing on the plastic board in her lap. This symbol board and some arm and facial gestures are the only ways Rachael has to com municate and, at recess, she’ll be wheeled out to the swings in a stroller. Rachael, 13, has cerebral palsy, a condition caused by brain dam age either before or at birth. She cannot talk, and because her mus cles are so stiff and underde veloped, she cannot use her hands for sign language. Mentally, Rachael is 3. She can feed herself some soft foods and can walk very slowly with leg braces and a rolling walker. “A lot of people try to ignore these children,” said Mary Ann Raatz, Rachael’s mother. "They have feelings — they just can’t ex press themselves well.” Raatz, her jusband James, Rachael and her older sister Tamara, 16, live in College Sta tion. Raatz talked about the prob lems of raising a disabled child as she sliced a banana into Rachael’s bowl. “We try to keep our family life balanced — we try to spend as much time with our other daugh- Two years later, a class was formed and Rachael started school. There are six children in her class, ranging in age from 9 to 16. One teacher and two aides con duct the class, making the adult- to-student ratio 1 to 2, as com pared with an average ratio of 1 to 30 in a normal classroom. “A lot of people try to ignore these children,” said Mary Ann Raatz, mother of Rachael, a cerebral palsy victim. “They have feelings — they just can't express themselves well. ” At 8 a.m. the specially- equipped bus takes Rachael and the other disabled children in the district to school. Her class meets in two large rooms behind the dis trict’s tax office on Timber Street. Karen Westbrook, the teacher, likes the location because the often noisy activities don’t disturb the rest of the school. and have helped her mother ad just to letting her go. This summer Rachael will undergo intensive self-help train ing at Scott and White Hospital in Temple. Raatz, who will stay in Temple, will only see her once a day. “It will be very hard to leave her, but the training will help her learn to do things for herself,” Raatz said. “This is a poor school district — there are no large industries in this town to generate taxes,” said Westbrook. “The school system tries to get us what we just have to have, but there are a lot of things we would like to have.” ...*4 .**:%*»• \ *** o** grt." ... ;*•*: os »* * f of • T* 1 ?; a«* ° €' - y9 * X \\ ...***•* ++** College Station 413 Texas Ave. South 846-6164 c You gctf^Mort of theFTtyngsyOiflove ter as we do with Rachael,” she said. “My husband and I don’t have much time together.” The Raatzs decided against in stitutionalizing Rachael despite the problems of raising her at home. “At this time, we can give her more than she can get at an institu tion,” Raatz said. When Rachael was 7, the usual age for entering school, there was no special class for severely dis abled children in the College Sta tion Independent School District. A teacher taught her basic skills at home for an hour a day. jeCon Is Coming conserae it FOLLOW THE YELLOW BRICK ROPD TO MSC Rll NITE FniR Come dr©//ed a/ a character FEB.27 8 p.fTL- Jam msc projects in THE Raatz disagreed, saying, “I wish that they could be incorporated into school life more. Sometimes, it’s like they’re forgotten out there.” At school and at home, repeti tion of certain tasks and strict sche duling seems to be the best way to teach disabled children. Wednes day, the bus was late and the day’s school schedule was disrupted. “Routine is very important to these children,” Westbrook said. “If the bus is late, the whole day may go badly.” Rachael and her classmates start each day by working puzzles. Rachael is easily distracted, and Westbrook must continually re mind her to finish the puzzle. The exercise goes slowly. It is hard not to help Rachael complete the sim ple task. But, as Westbrook points out, even these tasks are helping Rachael’s concentration, percep tion and muscle coordination. Rachael’s daily trips to school have made her more independent She also blames the sagging economy and federal aid cutbacks for the decreased special educa tion funds. Local clubs donate most of the expensive equipment used in the “The school system tries to get us what we just have to have, but there are a lot of things we would like to have, ” said Karen Westbrook, Rachael’s special educa tion teacher. class, Westbrook said. The school system pays for two hours of occu pational and physical therapy a week for each child who needs those extra services. In her occupational therapy, Rachael struggles to undressadol almost her size. Sheryl Kaluza,a therapist from the Brazos Valiev Rehabilitation Center, said tkl this exercise teaches Rachael how to undress herself and, more im portantly, improves the fine motor skills in her hands. The shirt and pants come of, but Rachael can’t get the under wear over the doll’s legs. Shecries out in frustration. Finally, after much encourage ment from Kaluza, the undemear comes off and Rachael gives tie doll a bath with a dry washcloth The physical therapist exerciser Rachael’s stiff back and leg mm cles and helps her practice wal ing, sitting and standing. The rest of the school day is spent sorting colored pegs inti colored buckets and placing pegs into holes — pre-vocational sir that might enable Rachael towod someday in a workshop for dis abled people. Each task that Rachael com E letes is lavishly praised by West rook and the aides. The attitudes of the teachers, as well as those of other people Rachael comes into contact with, are all-important, Raatz said. “Attitudes toward handicapped children are slowly changing,"skt said. “It depends on how parents teach their children. In this neigh borhood, some parents talked to their children about Rachael and they come over and ask to play with her. Others ride their biles by and stare. “People think it’s terrible hav ing a child like this. But it’sreallyi blessing. She has a terrific smile and you know it’s genuine, noli put-on.” Aggies win Baylor law money Two Texas A&M students have received a special scholarship to attend Baylor University’s School of Law. Joseph Milton Nance $2,400 full-tuition scholarships were awarded to Steven Webster Ellis, a political science major from Portland, Texas, and William Kaufman, a psychology major from Houston. David Wayne Tomek, a finance major from Houston, and Lisi Lynn Holmes, an accounting mi jor from Longview. Half tuition scholarships for $1200 were given to alternates M. M. (Mack) Deans ’55 Representing the COLLEGE INSURANCE PLAN to TAMU Students for 26 years 846-7791 4340 Carter Creek Suite 103 AMERICAN GENERAL LIFE INSURANCE CO. Home Office - Houston, Texas Lyric group a sell-out, plays tonight energy emcieet home?! For those who enjoy Mozarts string music more than Southern rock by Charlie Daniels, the Lyrit Art Quintet will perform tonight in Rudder Theatre at 8 p.m. But the music lovers should already have their tickets because the 750-seat theatre is sold out. The quintet is composed of three violinists, Fredell Lack Albert Muenzer and Lawrence Wheeler; a cellist, Hans Jorgeo Jensen and pianist Albert Hirsh, who teaches music at the Univer sity of Houston. The MSC Opera and Perform ing Arts Society is sponsoring the Quintet. Now Better Than Ever. You Will Be Pleased With MSC These Carefully Prepared and Taste Tempting Foods. 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FRIDAY EVENING SPECIAL BREADED FISH FILET w/TARTAR SAUCE Cole Slaw Hush Puppies Choice of one vegetable Roll or Corn Bread & Butter Tea or Coffee SATURDAY NOON and EVENING SPECIAL SUNDAY SPECIAL NOON and EVENING Yankee Pot Roast (Texas Salad) Mashed Potato w/ gravy Roll or Corn Bread & Butter Tea or Coffee rQuality First' ROAST TURKEY DINNER Served with Cranberry Sauce Cornbread Dressing Roll or Corn Bread - Butter Coffe or Tea Giblet Gravy And your choice of any One vegetable CAMPUJ begins CATHOl mittee in the 1 10 p.n MSC HO from 1 MSC Oil Weste KAPPA I will b< Cente: TAMU ft Zachn TAMU S/ “THE WI 9:45 p. which THE CHj band i availab TRANSCi for all i p.m. “THE CH sents t! ofa gir about t der Bo TAMU IIS 263 C. 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