YOUNGSTOWN Programs collaborate to benefit preschoolers

Working together helps educators find developmental delays sooner.
By SEAN BARRON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
YOUNGSTOWN -- Melissa Atwood recalls how her 4-year-old daughter, Aujanee Bland, made little eye contact. She hit, kicked and bit her preschool classmates.
"Since she was born, she never looked at me. I was tired of people saying nothing's wrong," the South Side Youngstown woman said. "I was told she wouldn't be able to walk, see colors or distinguish me from another person."
Two years later, however, Atwood marvels over the progress her daughter has made at home and in school after the girl was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and optic nerve damage. In addition to walking, Aujanee is learning Braille, recognizing names and colors, as well as mastering other skills, and "is now talking about her friends," Atwood said.
Aujanee attends a morning Head Start preschool program at the Choffin Career & amp; Technical Center; afterward, she is taken to the Youngstown City schools' Paul C. Bunn Elementary School where she is enrolled in an afternoon special-needs program.
Aujanee has made numerous improvements and is able to get many services she needs, her mother said, largely because of the close collaboration between the Head Start programs of the Mahoning Youngstown Community Action Partnership and the Youngstown city schools district Special Needs Inclusionary Preschool. (MYCAP was formerly known as the Youngstown Area Community Action Council.)
The collaboration has allowed officials to pinpoint autism, developmental and communication delays, hearing and vision loss, and other challenges in children at an earlier age and provide early intervention services sooner, explained Susan Niemiec, the school district's' special-needs preschool supervisor. Niemiec said children referred to her go through screenings to determine if any vision, hearing, psychological or speech problems exist.
& quot;If a child has a communication or motor delay, we write an IEP [Individual Education Program] and they start with our classes," she said. "We help them to reach their maximum potential."
Preschool children living in Youngstown can attend both programs for half-day sessions, and transportation is available for them and their families, Niemiec pointed out.
What Head Start does
Head Start, a federally-funded program launched in 1965, offers a variety of services to prepare children up to age to 5 from low-income families for success in school. Theresa Boano, a Head Start teacher who works with typical children, said she places an emphasis on social skills, health and safety issues -- such as teaching children their address and phone numbers -- and good hygiene practices, so they can be as independent as possible. Parental involvement also is a big part of the program, she added.
Lois Clark, MYCAP's Head Start director, added that early Head Start services also are available to infants and toddlers under age 3, as well as their parents. The program also assigns family services workers who act as advocates for the families, she noted.
Cindy Zouck, an early-intervention teacher, works with children ages 6 weeks to 3 years and said even the youngest children benefit from songs, daily art projects, counting exercises and various tactile activities in the classroom. The program, in its second year, prepares the toddlers for preschool and will soon include special-needs children, Zouck noted.
For pregnant moms
Further, MYCAP recently started providing services to pregnant mothers by hiring Cassandra Campean, a part-time pregnancy support specialist. Campean also serves as a doula, a person who acts as an advocate for women about to give birth and works with the family until the child is about 3 years old.
Campean's duties include being in the delivery room when needed, taking mothers to doctor appointments, attending birth preparation classes, helping them deal with postpartum depression, teaching them various newborn care skills and referring families to Healthy Babies, Women, Infants and Children and other agencies.
"I attend the labor and delivery with the moms and help them get through the birth," Campean said, adding that she attends about one birth per month. "My best tools are my words and voice to help the moms."
The healthy relationship between MYCAP and the city school district has increased in recent years thanks in part to a transitional committee that Clark and Youngstown Superintendent Benjamin L. McGee helped form, said Lynn Robinson, a disabilities manager. The committee, made up of teachers, parents, community members and others, has led to greater continuity, she stressed.
More involved
As a result, community meetings have become more common, and participants have a better handle on what the schools are doing, noted Betty Greene, the school district's supervisor of kindergarten, social studies and foreign languages. "Mr. McGee called and asked several people to find ways to develop a systemic approach to transitions for all the children. We're happy with the progress we've made," and are trying to build on that progress, Greene said.
As for Atwood, she said she's happy with the progress her daughter has made in both programs and praised those who work with Aujanee.
The collaboration "has made me stronger and helped me deal with her situation; it's helped me learn to teach her," Atwood said. "These people really love my daughter and that makes me feel good. I couldn't have asked for a better place for her to be. & quot;