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14 if rj i 5 saturday july 6 2002 economist sun stouffville tribune health 4 officials stress precautions in heat wave by linda johnson staff writer it has been a long time since you had such a good excuse not to cut the lawn after all you may just get past the marigolds when you wake up to find yourself at the emergency ward of the local hospital when the temperature is 35 and feels like 45 you know its hot but it can be difficult to realize how hot it really is or how the heat may affect your health for many people sweltering weather is not just uncomfortable it can quickly become a medical emer gency vf dr nalin ahluwalia chief of emer gency medicine at york central hospital said his department saw a lot of people in last weeks heat wave some of these are heatrelated ill nesses but some people have condi tions that seem to get worse during a heat wave he said so while doctors treat many cases of sunburn and dehydration more common are patients who already suffer from respiratory problems such as asthma the air quality is very bad and many people come in presenting breathing problems and thats all age groups children younger people and the older population they can be gulping for breath he said weather where heat is accompanied by a breeze is more likely to lead to heat stroke because a person may feel cooled by the breeze while body temperature continues to rise your bodys getting hotter but you dont realize whats going on because youve got a cool breeze he said dr ahluwalia said children are especially prone to heatrelated ill ness and are more likely to suffer dehydration which can cause their body temperatures to rise see children page 15 children need strong communication skills to build selfesteem clinic makes speech therapy fun by lisa queen staff writer when mark cardinali first became a patient of newmarkets fam ily speech clinic last october he had difficulty pro nouncing simple words hardly surprising given the then threeyearolds hearing loss which appeared to have been rec tified when tiny tubes were surgi cally implanted in his ears to help them drain properly at the time marks mom said she hoped he would be able to articulate one word properly by christmas we started in october and i thought if he could say one word clearly it would be such a huge christmas gift for us jeanine cardinali said were excited that he will have an opportunity for intense speech therapy and it will he a lot of fun mark is looking forward to it he likes camping and singing and having fun with his friends mark surpassed his parents expectations by being able to say simple sentences such as i choose mickey and dress the doll by years end although mark is still working on his speech patterns his mother is thrilled with the progress he has made in nine months but as far as mark is concerned going to the clinic isnt work its just a place to play with toys puzzles and games with beth cranmer- smith who operates the facility ms cranmersmith a speech- language pathologist who is also a member of southlake regional health centres neurological team staff photorob alary beth cranmersmith a speechlanguage pathologist who operates newmarkets family speech clinic works with mark cardinali 4 to help him learn to enunciate properly through toys and games said the play is actually therapy that helps children learn to enun ciate properly an inability to communicate well can create social barriers for children if not addressed she said kids experience a lot of frus tration if they cant communicate what are sixyearolds going to think if one kid is saying tat instead of cat it can affect that childs selfesteem ms cranmersmith said most academic and healthcare profes sionals agree positive communi cation skills are linked with intelli gence development and school performance stressing early intervention is key she said children with speech difficulties should receive therapy as early as 18 months at the clinic children usually receive therapy individually but this summer they will get a chance to learn and play together at the clinics day camp the first of its kind in york region campers will be doing the same activities as kids at any other camp singalongs story time crafts sports drama and show- andtell activities follow themes such as see camp page 15 t r 6 i fc it 4 4 4 t mx 1 v s i j i