Westwood : Child Study Center Established
The Fernald Child Study Center has been established at UCLA to study and treat a variety of childhood behavioral problems and learning disorders.
The center will replace UCLA’s Fernald School, a research and educational program for the learning-disabled that will close June 18 because of a controversial decision made last year by Chancellor Charles E. Young.
Last spring, Young surprised and angered parents by announcing that UCLA planned to close the Fernald School at the end of the 1986 school year so the university could reorganize and expand its research programs on childhood disorders.
Parents strongly opposed the closure and Young agreed to keep the school open for the 1986-87 school year.
In recent weeks, the new research center has been sharing space with the school, and it will take over the entire facility after the school closes, officials said.
The new center will “explore the problems that affect the behavior and development of children, drawing on the research of investigators from many disciplines on campus,” said Michael Goldstein, psychology professor and head of a six-member administration committee.
The center’s first program will be a five-week summer school and camp for boys ages 7 to 12, he said.
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