Same Kindness in New Quarters

The first time 14-month-old Elizabeth Brannon lifted her head from a pillow without anyone’s help, her mother rushed to the telephone to spread the news.

“It was very exciting for me, and nobody was home at the time,” Leigh Ann Brannon said. “I was running around the house screaming.”

For Elizabeth, who suffers from hydrocephalus, movements that most other infants learn on their own, such as holding a bottle and moving the head from side to side, are difficult to accomplish without training.

Brannon said her daughter’s achievement could not have come without the training she received at the United Cerebral Palsy Assn.’s Regional Infant Center in Garden Grove, where Elizabeth was enrolled at 4 months.

The center, designed to help children ages 3 and under who suffer from cerebral palsy and similar disabilities, will open a new and significantly larger facility in Santa Ana next week. A formal dedication is scheduled today at the refurbished two-story, colonial-style house on Fairview Road.

Early intervention at places such as the center can make the difference between whether a child with cerebral palsy grows into a self-sufficient adult or remains helpless, program administrators said.

“Children learn from exploring the environment,” said Jackie

Papp, director of program services for the center. “If you have a disability, it’s hard to learn from the environment. So we’re bringing an environment to them that normal children can get for themselves.”

Cerebral palsy results when a lack of oxygen causes brain damage at birth or as the result of an accident or child abuse during infancy and early childhood.

About 3,000 county children suffer from cerebral palsy or other special disabilities, but half of them lack proper care because the government is not required to provide services for them until they reach age 3, according to Joanne Miner, executive director of the United Cerebral Palsy Assn. of Orange County.

The center, intended to help bridge that gap in care, is free for children from birth to 3 years old--years crucial to a child’s development, Miner said.

Garden Grove Room Outgrown

The program, in its 17th year, has outgrown the 1,800-square-foot room the association was renting in the Jewish Community Center in Garden Grove. The move to the new Santa Ana facility is expected to take place next week, after the city has signed final permits for the structure.

The program, which operates on state funds distributed by the Orange County Developmental Disabilities Center and from private donations, has begun a campaign to raise $2.5 million to pay for the construction and establish an endowment. So far, about $400,000 of that has been raised, center officials said.

The new, 15-room infant center will accommodate 200 to 300 children, compared to the current enrollment of 100 at the Garden Grove facility, center officials said. In addition, one of the three cottages on the 1.5-acre site will be used as a day-care center for handicapped and children who are not disabled.

A Range of Services

The program, which uses a multi-discipline approach, provides such services as teaching basic motor functions, special education, parenting skills and nutritional counseling.

Children generally spend 3 hours at the center, 1 or 2 days a week. During a typical class, they learn to play drums to improve motor skills. They solve puzzles, sing songs about themselves and learn to identify textures--an exercise that involves sitting their bare bottoms in pans filled with wet spaghetti, yogurt or sand.

“This gives them a sensory feeling . . . to let them know that in the world there are things that are hard, gritty, soft and sticky,” said Joan Hess, a registered nurse who coordinates the program. “We put their whole body in without diapers. Some like it and some cry a lot.”

Parents are encouraged to participate in the classes and learn techniques that can be used at home. The group setting also provides parents a chance to talk with each other about their fears and anxieties.

Like many parents of disabled children, Brannon of Huntington Beach had to make major adjustments in her life after Elizabeth’s birth. She gave up a career as aircraft interior designer to stay home with her child full time.

She said the program has helped her learn to adjust to her daughter’s special needs: “At first, I was very protective. I was afraid to take her out, because I was scared of what she might get. I was also afraid of having her be accepted by others.

“You learn that you’re not the only parent with a child who has special needs. I’ve learned to cope with everything that comes up.”

CEREBRAL PALSY FACTS An estimated 3,000 children in Orange County suffer from cerebral palsy or similar disabilities. About half of them receive inadequate early intervention services. Cerebral palsy occurs in about 1 out of every 1,000 live births. The condition, which results from brain damage due to the lack of oxygen, also may be caused by an accident or child abuse during infancy or early childhood. The child may suffer lack of motor control; seizures; spastic paralysis; poor sight, hearing and speech; retardation, and other conditions requiring special care and special facilities. The United Cerebral Palsy Assn.’s Regional Infant Center provides free therapy and educational services for children in Orange County from birth to 3 years of age. In addition to regular programs, the center offers Spanish-speaking classes, family focus and home visits for children who are physically unable to come to the facility. Source: United Cerebral Palsy Assn. of Orange County.