Talk on Postural Control, Arm & Hand Strength - 19 May

19 MAY 2007 - SATURDAY

POSTURAL CONTROL, ARM AND HAND STRENGTH

Brief overview:

Conducted by 2 therapists, you will take home knowledge on:

• What is occupational therapy and who needs it?
• What is postural control? Why is it important?
• Normal development of arm, who will have weak arms and how to spot them
• Normal development of normal grip patterns, how to identify abnormal grips, effects of pinch & grip strength in a person’s life and lots of
• Activities to improve arms and hand strength

Speakers:

This session will be conducted by US trained Ms Minnie Tam and UK trained Ms Yam Pui Fun.

Ms Tam, a registered Occupational Therapist in the US, worked for a year in San Francisco. She started her career in adult-care; however, she has since dedicated her attention to children. Today, based in Cheras, Ms Tam has close to 10 years of pediatric experience.

Ms Yam obtained her BSc in Occupational Therapy from UK. Upon graduation, she ventured into private practice and to date, has more than 6 years experience working with young children.

Specially organized for parents, teachers, medical students and anyone involved with special-needs children.

This half-day talk will be held:

On: 19 May 2007

At: Sau Seng Lum Dialysis & Stroke Rehab Centre

Add: Lot PT 39480, Jln Industri PB3, Tmn Industri

Pusat Bandar Puchong, 47100 Selangor

Time: Registration starts at 9.00am

Session 1 : 9.30am – 10.40am

Tea Break : 10.40am – 11.00am

Session 2 : 11.00 – 12.15pm

Q & A : 12.15pm – 12.30 pm

Fees : RM60.00 per person ( RM45.00 for students )

Please note that in the event of cancellation, we are unable to entertain any request for refund. Thus, substitution of participant is strongly encouraged.

Register/Payment:

Please send Registration Form together with cheque ( with name and contact number written clearly on the reverse) made payable to : Glen Stream (M) Sdn Bhd or

direct debit into Hong Leong Bank account #19400009994. Kindly fax bank-in slip (with Registration Form) to confirm registration.

Please note that seat is confirmed only upon receipt of payment.

Organised by: Glen Stream (M) Sdn Bhd.

Founded by 2 mothers with sp-needs children, GS retails educational toys, teaching material and therapy tools, and also organizes seminars and workshops on a regular basis.

Glen Stream (M) Sdn Bhd

38, Jln Sri Petaling 1, Sri Petaling, 57000 Kuala Lumpur

Tel/Fax: (03) 9058 8014

Mobile : 012 372 3776 & 016 917 9955

[tags : disability epilepsy autism children pediatric neurology]

United Voice : Train Them, Don’t be Overprotective

Let go. Despite its implied simplicity, this is perhaps the most difficult thing for a parent whose child is intellectually impaired.

“Don’t be too overprotective or your child will have no future,” said Juan Fang, a homemaker.

Fang’s 28-year-old daughter Felicia is intellectually impaired, and “letting go” was what Fang had done over the years to teach Felicia independence and maturity.

The family had uprooted from Kuala Terengganu to the capital a few years after learning of Felicia’s condition so that she could have a better future.

“For Felicia to learn better and catch up in school, I made flash cards to help her. I didn’t give up,” said the soft-spoken Fang.

Today, Felicia is an office assistant at St Paul’s Anglican Church, Petaling Jaya. She has worked there for the last six years.

“She’s more confident and independent since she started working and interacting with people. Over the years, I had to let go bit by bit, or the family’s sacrifices and move to KL would be in vain,” said Fang.

Selangor Social Welfare Department statistics reveal that the registered number of those with intellectual impairment or learning disability in the state from 1998 till today stands at 13,924.

According to officer Eny Edayu Mat Ali, the actual figure is higher.

“The increase in the number of intellectually impaired from 2005 to 2006 alone, is significant – about 58%,” she said.

While the department has no records on the intellectually impaired who are currently employed, it admits they face a greater, if not the same challenges in getting job placements, no thanks to society’s prejudices.

“It’s even more difficult now than before,” said St Paul’s Day Training Centre (centre for people with intellectual disabilities) co-ordinator A. Annamaney.

Eny agrees, adding that the physically disabled have a better chance at employment than the intellectually impaired.

“Malaysian society holds very distorted views on disability. People are more
willing to employ the physically disabled as their limitation is physical,
whereas the intellectually impaired are just dismissed as cacat or
retarded.”

This has caused even high-functioning slow learners – who are capable of basic clerical, administrative and computer work, as well as despatching and packaging in an ‘open’ (real world) environment – to be mislabelled as unproductive.

“Given early intervention, those with learning disabilities can communicate,
think for themselves, and know how to be responsible in life and the workplace,”
said Eny.

Realistically speaking, seamless integration between regular society and the intellectually impaired community still appears a far-off goal.

“Japan was exposed to intellectual impairment at the same time as Malaysia, but Japan is far ahead of us today,” said United Voice co-ordinator Yeo Swee Lan.

United Voice is a self-advocacy society of persons with learning disabilities in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.

United Voice's Website - http://www.unitedvoice.com.my/

Download United Voice's Jan's Newsletter - here


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[tags : disability epilepsy autism children pediatric neurology]

First Signs of a Developmental Delay or Disorder

Red Flags

The following red flags may indicate a child is at risk for atypical development, and is in need of an immediate evaluation. In clinical terms, there are a few “absolute indicators,” often referred to as “red flags,” that indicate that a child should be evaluated. For a parent, these are the “red flags” that your child should be screened to ensure that he/she is on the right developmental path. Social/Communication Red Flags: If your baby shows any of these signs, please ask your pediatrician or family practitioner for an immediate evaluation: No big smiles or other warm, joyful expressions by six months or thereafter No back-and-forth sharing of sounds, smiles, or other facial expressions by nine months or thereafter No babbling by 12 months No back-and-forth gestures, such as pointing, showing, reaching, or waving by 12 months No words by 16 months No two-word meaningful phrases (without imitating or repeating) by 24 months Any loss of speech or babbling or social skills at any age “Most mommies and daddies tell me “I thought there was a problem at 14 or 15 months...and they told me let’s wait and see because sometimes some kids grow out of it.’ Well, that’s not a good answer. We’ve got to make the distinction between less important problems, where we can wait and see from core problems, which involve a lack of reciprocity and a lack of getting to know your world. For these core problems, we have to act on it yesterday. We can’t wait nine months, we can’t wait two months.” (Stanley I. Greenspan, M.D., Child Psychiatrist)

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[tags : disability development delay ]