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PAGE 14, WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 1985, WHITBY FREE PRESS T.R. students have intergrated well at Henry High By JAN DODGE Free Press Staff Oshawa parents of trainable retarded (T.R.) students who are being transferred this September fron the sheltered environment of Glenholme to McLaughlin Collegiate ATTERSLEY TIRE SERVICE PASSENGER & LIGHT TRUCKS BRAKES TUN E-UP SHOCKS COOLING A MI] M- . rSYSTEM n 103 Dundas E. Whitby 668-3356 MARTI COLES 162 King St. E. Oshawa 571-3400 are concerned. The Durham Board of Education policy is to support the integration of developmentally handicapped students into the regular school system, on the basis that integration is in the best interest of the students. This policy is in line with Bill82. For four years now Henry Street High School has been operating a class for T.R. students. What has been the experience there? Mary Willoughby, Judy Hunt, and Joyce Rammler are all mothers of teenagers who are T.R. students at Henry Street. Willough- by and Rammler are from Whitby; Hunt lives in Oshawa. They can all relate to the fears that the Oshawa parents are suf- fering. Willoughby was worried her son, 19- year-old Allen, who had previously attended Aldon School for the retarded in Ajax, might have some difficulty finding his way to school safely, but she said, "I took him and showed him the way. Now he rides his bike, and he knows how to take the bus on rainy days." Allen is one of two brain-damaged boys that Willoughby fostered as infants and later adopted as her own. The other boy is in a similar program at Ajax High School. "Allen experienced harassment twice, by local boys, in the cafeteria. I reported it and it never happened again. These same boys had~given him a hard time in Scouts, so he quit Scouts, but you can't let them quit everything. It's an ongoing battle," Willoughby said. Hunt, whose 17-year- old daughter, Cindy, went from Glenholme to a special class at Ridgeway Public School, said, "I had the same fears as the Oshawa parents do now. When Cindy went back to an ordinary school I was afraid she would be shunned by the ordinary students." Hunt only knows of one case where her fears were realized. "One girl, made some nasty comments to Cin- dy so she spoke to Mrs. Beal (principal of Henry Street). Mrs. Beal took care of it. "When Cindy started at Henry Street I met with the principal and teachers. I expressed concern that Cindy and the others might not be treated well. Mrs. Beal said she wanted them to be treated the same as other kids, not specially." Joyce Rammler, whose 17-year-old son, Bill, has Down's Syn- drome said, "I wasn't to concerned when the Bill was moved to Lord Durham because the school was just next door to Aldon, where he had been before. Also, he had one of the same teachers he had had at Aldon. "But when be moved to Henry Street, it was such a big school and I didn't think the students there would be so familiar with kids like him. "I still have a little bit of worry in the back of my mind that he might be hurt. "One time in the TIM WILSON CallUs Today ** FOR A FREE QUOTATION ON YOUR•AUTO •HOME •CONDOMINIUM •RENTERS INSURANCE LOW RATES-FRIENDLY- PERSONAL SERVICE cafeteria, Bill sat at another table and I guess the kids didn't want him there. They threw food at him, but he handled it very well his teacher said. It's a good thing for him to know how to handle that kind of thing. "As a parent of a child like this you start off sheltering them and it's hard to let go, not that you ever really do." Jenny Beal, principal of Henry Street, said when the class was first announced there, "we had plenty of time to in- troduce the staff and students to the idea. We knew in April or May that the class would be starting the following September. "Each year we get someone from Durham Centre to come to talk to the grade nine classes about what mental retardation is, and to show a really excellent film, 'World of the Right Size.' We do this with two or three classes at a time so that they can ask questions. "Yes, these kids are accepted. Other studen- ts are willing to assist in some of their classes. Making fun of a retar- ded individual is just not acceptable around here by the . majority of kids." According to Beal, the students are integrated in many ways in the school. There are 14 T.R. students there and they are divided up amongst home rooms depending on age and where their name falls in the alphabet, like everyone else. They mingle in the cafeteria and halls and are sub- ject to the same rules of the school as the regular students. A couple of students have taken the regular theatre arts class. The class sometimes get a period here or there with a regular class. Some get a period a day of music with the regular teacher. In physical education grade 12 students assist for more one on one in- struction. They have oppor- tunities to go on school excursions, such as a recent trip to the Shaw Festival. About half chose to go. They have the same opportunity to par- ticipate in ex- tracurricular activities, but most prefer a spec- tator role. "They like to go to the football games," Beal said. Two of the three parents said their children enjoyed school. All said their children were learning. Allen, who is physically handicapped as well (he has only the use of one hand) is hap- py, his mother said, although he has been a little disappointed this year at not being able to play in the school band. Last year he played the big drum and travelled with the band to Thunder Bay and to several area scbools. "At age 15 or 16 they sbould be witb older students. It hielps thiem act like older students," Willoughby said. "Allen does well above average in the subjects he takes ... I put great faith in special classes." Cindy told her mother over breakfast recently, "I just can't wait to get back to school." Of Cindy's transfer to regular schools, her mother said, "I'm really pleased with her progress. I thought she went downhill during the time she was at Glenholme. She imitated the behaviour she saw there." Bill is not quite so keen on school. Like a lot of regular students he would like to be graduating, "but", his mother said, "he really does learn." All parents favourably impressed with the teachers, in particular, Don Doucet- te, the special education specialist at Henry Street. Bill had a few problems at first getting used to his teacher but it had more to do with knowing what was ex- pected of him his mother said. Once he understood what the rules were he got along much better. Hunt included Cindy's teacher, Mr. Hamilton of Ridgeway Public School, with Doucette when she said, "Cindy's teachers are both very dedicated; they must be very special people." Even these parents have reservations about integrating all students at Glenholme and Aldon in regular schools. Hunt said, "probably 90 percent of the studen- ts could conform to cer- tain. public standards, but for the rest, their handicap is just too severe." "Some need so much help and care, they don't even realize their environment," Ram- mler said. Willoughby said some wouldn't be able to fun- ction in this situation. "Some parents won't allow their teenagers to grow up. They shelter them too much." "Originally schools for the retarded were privately financed and run. Then they were un- der the Board of Education and the students were segregated and protec- ted. Now the philosophy is to integrate these students into normal society," Beal said. "It works at the school level. "School is a microcism of society. The special kids gain through acceptance of themselves; the others benefit through ex- posure. It increases their humanity." 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