THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 16, 1995 TAG: 9511160754
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MATTHEW BOWERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Long : 102 lines
It was a parent's nightmare. Mackinzie Ferguson entered the world with her umbilical cord wound tight around her neck, her face dark purple. She suffered three seizures and spent two weeks in the hospital.
Doctors said they didn't know what might result. Just watch for things going wrong, they told Mackinzie's parents.
Within months, the parents noticed that their daughter wouldn't reach for her rattle with her right hand, which stayed curled at her side. The girl was very late sitting and crawling. A Navy doctor recommended immediate physical therapy.
For 2-week-old Austin Wainwright, born two months premature, it was to be a standard hernia operation. But he stopped breathing. Subsequent tests revealed a genetic disorder known to lead to mental retardation and epilepsy in the vast majority of cases, and dangerous tumors on vital organs.
At 10 months, Austin couldn't sit up. ``He just lay there like he was a newborn,'' said his mother, Julie A. Wainwright of Williamsburg.
A Head Start worker suggested that the family check out the Child Development Resources program in Norge.
Two babies. Both with developmental problems. Both with scared parents. And both steered at young ages to early-intervention programs, where courses of therapy are geared to minimizing the children's disabilities and maximizing their physical and intellectual development.
About 20 children and their families celebrated such programs Wednesday afternoon at the Children's Museum of Virginia, with therapists and other early intervention workers from Hampton Roads to Williamsburg to the Eastern Shore.
The event also was intended to raise awareness of the various therapy and educational programs run by state agencies, local Community Services Boards, public schools and private organizations, under the coordination of Virginia's Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services.
Early intervention programs often are an anomaly in today's budget-crunched times - they've got the resources, and find themselves hunting for families to use them.
``The general public still is unaware of these services,'' said Kathy W. Phillips of the Rural Infants Services Program on the Middle Peninsula.
That's bad, because time is of the essence in these cases.
Babies develop so quickly, experts say, that intervention such as therapy, special instruction and nursing and medical care should begin early - often between birth and age 3. In many cases, treatment can offset problems by the time children reach school age, reducing the need for costly special education.
``If the money is spent at the front end, the research has found it saves money in the long run,'' said Kerry S. Lambert of Old Dominion University, who trains early-intervention therapists.
The various programs also offer support for parents of children with developmental problems. ``It's a big burden, both financially and emotionally,'' Lambert said.
The support of other parents in the same boat helped Mackinzie's mother, Sherry L. Ferguson of Virginia Beach. ``Rather than be around some kid who could walk at 8 months, you're around people who know what you're going through,'' Ferguson said Wednesday.
As her mother talked, Mackinzie celebrated her second birthday by climbing through tubes and up a set of stairs. Her right hand and leg, while still weak, now get used so much that a bystander doesn't notice anything special.
It also was a birthday for Austin: 14 months. Just four months after starting once-a-week therapy in his home, plus occasional play therapy with other children, he's all over the place, his Barney sneakers getting a lot of action.
The boy's prognosis remains uncertain, but his mother is upbeat.
``Right now,'' Wainwright said, ``we're just going to have fun and be together.'' ILLUSTRATION: VICKI CRONIS photos/The Virginian-Pilot
Paula Shea, left, keeps her two children, Emily, 3, and Brian, 2,
close to her during a reception Wednesday afternoon at the
Children's Museum of Virginia in Portsmouth. Michael Bass, right,
sitting on father David's knee, gets a kiss from his brother
Matthew.
Austin Wainwright, 14 months, who was diagnosed early with a genetic
disorder, checks out a motorcycle at the Children's Museum of
Virginia in Portsmouth.
Christina Tuculet, 2 1/2, and her sister Katie, 1 1/2, have plenty
of room as they play in an oversize chair at the Children's Museum.
Their mother took them from Gloucester to Portsmouth for the
reception.
Graphic
WHOM TO CALL
For information about early intervention services, call the state
toll-free hot line at 1-800-234-1448, or one of the local offices:
Chesapeake, 547-8929; Franklin, 562-6806; Hampton, 825-8687;
Norfolk, 441-5059; Portsmouth, 393-8791; Suffolk, 538-2523; Virginia
Beach, 437-4999; Williamsburg, James City County, York County and
Poquoson, 566-3300.
by CNB