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Features THE WEEKEND OUTLOOK Friday May 1991 Page New hospital service works with the speechimpaired By LISA The Herald Keith Baker of Georgetown no longer talks in simple sentences and can parlay an articulate and structurally complex sentence like any other boy his age thanks to the speech language pathologists who are hosting an Open House May J at Georgetown and District Memorial Hospital as part of the Speech and Hearing Month of May After eight months of speciahz ed speech and language training threeyearold Keith was discharged from the Speech Language Pathology Department at the hospital His improved speech is one of several success stories speech- language pathologist Rosemary Boyer and Karen MacKenzie- Stepner will be able to share with the community at their open house from Ham to 1 m When Keith first came to the department his sentences werent very complex and he was having trouble enunciating cer tain sounds like the letter Ms Boyer explained that Keith would say him color where most threeyearolds speech pat terns would have advanced to the point where theyd say he is col oring Through an assessment Ms Boyer discovered Keith understood language well for his speech level and through practic ing sounds saying words and reading sentences Keith reached the speech level of his age group She credited Keiths parents for their role upgrading his level of speech If Keiths speech problems hadnt been corrected this early Ms Boyer said it could have led to future academic and social problems It might have been difficult for Keith socially if other kids couldnt understand what he was trying to say she said That can lead to frustration and thats something we want to avoid Working with chddren such as Speech Language Pathologist Rosemary Boyer works through some word cards with three yearold Kevin Baker of Georgetown at Georgetown and District Memorial Hospitals Speech Language Pathology department Kevins mom Paula se cond from right looks over Speech Language Pathologist Karen plans for the department open house at the hospital scheduled for May from 11 a to I Herald photo by Lisa Boons cupations department of the hospital the service was provid ed from the hospital and an addi tional speech language pathologist Ms Stepner was hired The service now has its own room in the hospital and patients are covered byOHIP Ms Boyer and Ms MacKenzie- Stepner will be available for in formation about speech and language pathology at the open house and on May 11 when theyll be present at the Elks and Royal Purple of Canadas display at Georgetown Market Place This group annually raised money during Speech and Hearing Month for children who need treatment or equipment to talk or hear better Kevin is just one area the pathology department services Many of the services clientele are older persons who have suf fered a stroke and experience aphasia a language problem The speech language pathologists have been helping a woman who knew what she wanted to say but couldnt get her mouth to form the words because she had a stroke Together with the woman and her family the pathologists designed a picture board that enabled her to communicate and gave her daily therapy to teach her more control of the movements of her mouth The pathologists also do swallow assessment for people who find it difficult to swallow We work with dieticians and family to determine what types of food consistencies they cant swallow and go from there said Ms MacKenzieStepner Other services the department provides include the area of neurology where they assist in dividuals with neurological disorders to relearn language and improve production of speech sounds and oral motor movements stuttering assistance to help individuals cope with their disorder and to in crease the amount fluent speech and assisting individuals with voice disorders to develop proper control of the vocal and respiratory systems for optimal voice production Both Ms MacKenzieStepner and Ms Boyer have their masters degree in speech and language pathology and have several years experience work ing in the field They now live in Georgetown moving here after they were hired to work in Georgetown Hospitals Speech Pathology Department which opened in January At first Ms Boyer handled all the local clientele by visiting them in their homes When the hospital provided a room for the service in the Big Brothers organization appealing for help By ROSE STARRATT Herald Special Big Brothers of Halton has been forced to stop accepting ap plications of new Little Brothers in the MiltonGeorgetownActon area This is because of the lack of men willing to become Big Brothers Currently we have 30 Little Brothers on our waiting list for the area One boy has waited for over a year said Evelyn Gran saull executive director of Big Brothers And with an average of just one new Big Brother com in every three months there is no way we can increase the case load It would be unfair to raise the hopes of these boys and not be able to fulfill our pro mise Big Brothers matches men of good moral character over the age of la to father absent boys between the ages of six and All Big Brothers go through our screening process They must be able to give six references in eluding a police check medical certificate work reference plus one from a relative and two from friends They are then put through an interview by the Ex ecutive Director While there are several reasons why these boys don have a positive male role model the result is always the same Loneliness frustration and long ing So the most important items a Big Brother can bring to the relatioiship is commitment companionship friendship and time Mrs Gransaull adds There are many men in the Halton com who meet these re but for some reason they dont come forward We charge no fees or dues and the Big Brother does not have to spend money The idea is time We need men who have four hours a week to devote to his Lit tie Brother The interests of the boys are varied so great care is taken to form a match that is compatable Some Little Brothers want a fast game of 21 in the court while another might be curious as to how a new computer program works Whatever the interests there is someone out there to match them If they would just come forward If you believe you are Big Brother material or even if you know of someone who would make a wonderful Big Brother then please call the Big Brother office at Dont hesitate We need you to day The boys we today are the fine men of our tomorrow Mm mm It aST BIG BROTHERS Hi A HUH 1 aaV aaaaaaaaaaafl OF Big Brother Hon Fraser poses with his little brother Warren Vivian at the Big Brothers of office building The organization Is looking for new men to be a big brother to over boys who need one and are presently unmatched Photo submitted FLYERS Watch for these MONEYSAVING flyers inside this edition of THE HERALD CANADIAN TIRE ACTON AND GEORGETOWN GEORGETOWN FOOD MARKET partial VOUnGi PHARflUICV ITD PARTIAL