A Summer Special

Parents of special-needs children praise programs, activities offered in Decatur

Patrice Stewart

THE DECATUR DAILY Staff Writer

All children deserve some summer fun — and all parents want to provide it.

Canoeing, swimming, fishing, talent shows and crafts are part of ypical summer camps and day-care programs, but fun can be hard to find for special-needs children and young people. Their parents often have to search for the specific care their mentally and/or physically challenged youngsters must have during the months that school is not in session so that the parents can continue their careers year-round.

In Decatur, the Arc of Morgan County and Decatur High School's Developmental Center link up to be sure special children get a chance for summer fun and their parents can work between 7 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Employees of the two groups — plus some summer staff and volunteers — work out a schedule to alternate care, academics and fun, using the developmental wing of DHS as their headquarters until nearly time for school to start in August.

"This really helps the working parent," said Vickie Thomas of Priceville, who drives son Zachary there every morning. Her husband, Dan, works at Saturn in Tennessee, and daughter Danielle, 10, goes to a day-care center in Priceville.

"He's glad to get there every morning," she said of Zach, whose chromosome disorder resulted in both physical and mental handicaps. He is confined to a wheelchair and unable to speak but communicates some by clapping.

"The staff is just wonderful with them," she said. This program adds a slice of normal life to his summer, and one day Danielle even found him at Point Mallard, where both their groups were visiting.

During the four weeks that Arc is in charge, the students go swimming almost daily at Point Mallard and Carrie Matthews Center, as well as fishing, canoeing and making visits to Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, parks and other sites. The Developmental Center, during its four weeks, emphasizes academics to keep students using their skills throughout the summer, with regular gym times.

After those activities, plus lunch and two snacks daily, the hours from 3 to 5:30 p.m. are considered aftercare, but no change in location is necessary. The staff works with parents to be sure their work-schedule needs are met, and this is important for those like Kathy and Carl Grover of Decatur, who have no family in the area to help out.

Their son Marshall, 15, has cerebral palsy with seizure disorder and is mentally challenged, and he has attended whatever summer program was offered since he started attending school.

"These kids wouldn't have a place to go, otherwise, because regular day-cares are licensed only through age 12," said Marshall's mother, who also has a 12-year-old, McKenzie. "But they work together, so Arc is there for us whenever Decatur High isn't, so there are very few days when we don't have some type of care, and they are always there to help you find somebody if you need somebody.

"They provide some academics so our kids don't forget what they have learned throughout the year, because they don't have the memories we have," Grover said. The workers in the programs "treat them like normal people, and that's really wonderful."

And because the school and Arc personnel work together closely, the parents don't have to leave work and transport their children to another location for the late afternoon.

As a registered nurse who needed to be at work by 6:50 a.m. last year, she had a scheduling problem, but her supervisor and Marshall's program personnel helped her out. Now she is program director for Decatur Bariatrics, a new program affiliated with Decatur General Hospital, so she can drop Marshall off at 7 a.m. and her husband picks him up as he returns from work as an engineer at Raytheon in Huntsville.

The Thompson family feels lucky to have moved to Decatur two years ago from the Cherry Creek suburb of Denver, because much more is available here for their 16-year-old son, Matthew, who is severely mentally challenged and operates at a 2-year-old level.

"When we came house-hunting here and I went to look at the Decatur High program, I just couldn't believe they had an entire wing and gym for these kids where they teach them skills like making beds, as well as activities through the summer," said Susie Thompson, whose husband, Bruce, is director of the Lockheed-Martin plant at Courtland. She doesn't work outside the home so she picks Matthew up by 3 p.m., often with his sister, Margaret, 11, in tow.

"The school's program keeps them learning and retaining skills all year, because they can't take a summer vacation from that, but we love the Arc part, as well. It's totally different, because it takes them out into the community," Thompson said.

'Big positive for Alabama'

"This is a big positive for Alabama," she said. While they moved from the richest school district in Colorado, where teacher pay is higher, she said the high school Matthew would have attended was depressing. "There it seemed these kids were shoved aside, while here they are very much in the limelight, with more emphasis on providing services.

"Here, everybody just genuinely cares about the kids, and they do it not for the pay, but because they care — and the kids are getting a well-rounded summer."

Tom Maynor, head of the DHS developmental center, said they tag-team with Arc workers through the summer to be sure every child has a place to be from early in the morning until 5:30. He and his employees take four weeks — two in June and two in July — with academics and gym time, while Arc oversees the rest of the summer, including about 10 days before school starts when they move to the Arc's center while the school gets cleaned and restocked.

"This is my favorite part of what Arc does, because we offer a typical summer, with trips to pools, parks, sports, talent shows, karaoke, guest entertainers, karate demonstrations and tons of crafts," said Cathy Thorn, program director for Arc. "They maintain their friendships from school and enjoy activities that help with their physical therapy."

She said they have 18 to 25 participants in this United Way-supported program. Parents pay $150 for the four school weeks and $100 for the four Arc weeks.