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" ST a YP TTT BE dT EN ry TR - SA -- BE er ---- -- EE ------------ E ---- PRR a a. PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, Dec. 4, 1984 -- 11 House designed to help the handicapped At one time, the sev- erely developmentally handicapped were re- signed to a life inside the walls of an institution. Now thanks to the imagination of. three different government ministries, they have a new lease on life thro- ugh learning, and the amazing house on High Street. -Once gutted by fire, the Port Perry house has been renovated from the ground up with the handicapped in mind. Gently sloping ramps lead into the front door, wide enough for wheel- chairs and other special equipment. Bathroom and kitchen facilities have been improved and the house itself has been cheered up with bright siding. Overall, the house is designed for the five to eight developmentally handicapped people who will wheel through its doors every weekday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Once inside those doors, the clients (as they are called by the bureaucrats who run the program) are exposed to a whole new world of education, one they couldn't hope to take advantage of within the confines of the institu- tion where they live, Sunnydale Nursing Home in Sunderland. At the house on High Street, they'll exper- ience independence first hand and know the joy of tackling domestic chores on their own. Burdened with severe mental and-or physical handicaps, the people who live at Sunnydale Nursing Home require constant care. Most re- quire assistance with tasks other people take for granted, like eating, moving and communi- cating. The 73 people who live in Sunnydale are there because they can't survive on their own, without help. But because they've been cared for and coddled most of their lives, few have been challenged to live their lives as independently as possible, to strive beyond their "limits" and master simple skills. The developmental program at the nursing home gives them occu- pational and physio therapy, and the rec- reation program keeps them occupied with therapeutic pool therapy and trips to places like Cullen Gar- dens and the Scugog Memorial Library. But until the Life Skills program was intro- duced, the people who live at the nursing home were never really chall- enged to learn functions like self-feeding, self- toileting or manipu- lation of their wheel- chairs with a purpose. Only problem was, there were no facilities at the home to accom- modate such a program. What the Life Skills program needed was a house, adjusted for the handicapped, but as close to a regular one- family dwelling as possible. With the funding co- operation of three gov- ernment ministries (the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Community and Social Services, and the Ministry of Educa- tion), the program was named the Tri-Ministry Project. Planning began in earnest in 1981. Organizers searched throughout the north Durham area for a site for the project and finally decided on Port perry, mainly because of its access to shop- ping, library and other facilities. Four weeks ago, the doors to the house on High Street opened to the first group of clients, an enthusiastic group of five to eight develop- mentally handicapped young people (aver- aging in their mid- twenties), ready to take on new experiences. When they graduate, organizers are hopeful that one day they'll be able to move out of the nursing home and into 'regular' homes, with their families, relatives, "with NV TI60N XK video cassette lape " ENTERTAINING LIFESTYLE PV-1231R-K Onn Wvigsion VHS 8-Hour* Home Video Cassette Recorder with Omnisearch and Wireless Remote Control Built in 2 week/2 program electronic digital clock timer Multi Function Display One Touch Recording for up to 4 hours 12 position 105 channel electronic pushbutton VHF/UHF tuner 14 function wireless remote control Omnisearch in SLP Frame Advance Shll Frame and Slow Motion in SLP SPALP/SLP tape speed selector 8 hour recording with NV T160N K video tape Soft touch controls Auto stop and rewind Auto TVAVCR switching With all necessary cables and connectors *599.95 26" MITSUBISHI With Remote Control. . . 20" MAGNAVOX COLOUR With Remote Control. . . 20" MAGNAVOX COLOURTV.......... *459.95 friends or even in group homes. When that happens, other 'clients' from the nursing home will visit the house on High Street until everyone has had a chance to widen their horizons. As program coordin- ator Art Mathews points out, individuals are en- couraged to participate in the project as best they can. No miracles are expected, but each client is asked to do the best he or she can. "It's great for them to interact and have some control of their environ- ment," he said. '"Their reaction is very positive.' Graham Baldwin, of North Durham Family Services, is the director of the project, and as he puts it, "We're talking about people who have led a relatively passive life and now they're being challenged. "Our view is, the more handicapped we allow a person to become, the more handicapped they're going to be seen.' When the clients arrive at the house on High Street (via special vans), their first task might be taking off their coats and hanging them up by themselves. No This is the house on High Street, a home and a school for a group of Sunnydale Nurs- 8-Hour Home Video Cassette Recorder - TELEVISIONS - 799.95 *599.00 easy job for a person in a wheelchair with little control over their own limbs. Turning on a light or the stereo is an accom- plishment to be proud of, and meal prepara- tion is something every- one takes part in. And if, say, a jug of milk is required for that meal, it's up to the client to go into a local store and buy it. They get help, of course, but the client is expected to do as much as he or she possibly can. Each new chall- enge, whether it's ex- changing money with a grocery clerk, or switching on a light, is a learning opportunity. "Our expectations aren't that one day they're going to walk or talk," Mr. Baldwin said. "But there is unlimited maximum potential." For the students of the house on High Street, graduation day is uncer- tain and the rewards are different than those showered on college or university graduates. And yet, at the end of a day at the house on High Street, each student re- turns to Sunnydale with new hope, and new self-esteem. The best graduation reward of all. ing Home people who have taken a new lease on life. See story for details. Make your holiday entertaining easy with Microwaves, Televisions and VCR's, all available at Homestead Furniture & Appliances. Defrost and Cook According to Weight Settings! Panasonic NE-7860 Microwave Oven § Automatic \ ©) Turntable LW 5' * Weight Froz-Cook lets you prepare frozen conven lence fonds according to simple weight settings * Weight Cook accurately cooks meats and poultry by the pound ® Weight Defrost function for fish meats and poultry 539.95 & Jae . a pw = ----