The mentally retarded and developmentally disabled do not reach their full potential unless learning opportunities are ongoing, according to the executive director of Deseret Village in Spanish Fork.
Lee Childs said the village is the only home in the state for mentally handicapped adults that operates entirely on private funds and donations. Deseret Village consists of two homes - one for men and one for women - supervised by house parents for mentally handicapped clients who are able to care for their own basic physical needs, like dressing themselves and eating."I'm a believer that our society has a lot of people who drop out through the cracks because they don't get enough training early in life," Childs said. "Many people who are developmentally disabled are classified as mentally retarded and then never allowed to grow. It's a shame."
At Deseret Village, many of the clients receive "retraining from the very beginning," he said. "We start with crawling, etc., to retrain the brain so that they can learn. With this type of retraining, I've seen people advance five years in six months. We use all five senses in the learning-teaching process."
Childs believes that computers can play an important part in the development of those with mental handicaps. "It has been found that the computer is being used very successfully in teaching people with problems to read and write," he said. "We hope to implement a computer program at Deseret Village and we're negotiating with IBM to create an education system there."
Childs said the BYU College of Education has expressed interest in helping by providing teachers for the clients.
"When we improve our funding base," he said, "our educational and neurological programs will move ahead. We can move our programs to meet the needs of our people.
"We hope to expand across the state and around the country," he said.
Because the Village has no government funding, it is supported by private donations, fund-raisers and fees paid by clients' families. For information, call Noma Adamson, 582-1822, or LaRue Sneff, 364-1221.