822-Lancaster Fannins, Saturday, March 16,1985 BY JOHN STOKES SCHMIDT Staff Correspondent SALISBURY, Md. - Eight and a half million disabled Americans live more than 20 miles from the nearest large town or city, and some of these disabled rural citizens are farmers. But while many disabled far mers want to stay in farming, they find many physical, psychological, and financial barriers facing them. To bring together rural families with physically and mentally disabled members, the Maryland Cooperative Extension Service organized the Mid-Atlantic Workshop for Disabled Individuals and Their Families in Rural and Agricultural Communities, a first of its Idnd program in this area. The two-day event, held recently at the Youth and Civic Center in Salisbury, drew university safety specialists, agricultural engineers, communication specialists, psychologists, rehabilitation counselors, home economists and resource professionals from many organizations. This army of specialists came with the desire to present the most recent information on successful modifications of equipment and facilities for use by farmers, watermen and others with disabilities. Their program was designed to help disabled in dividuals identify resources that Easter Traditions Almost daily I’ve been making a routine check of the various flower beds around the house. Pushing their way up through the pile of leftover leaves from last year are my dwarf iris, daffodils, tulips, and crocus. It was bitter cold on the day that I nestled the bulbs into the ground for their long winter nap, wondering all the while if they would actually become spring flowers from the semmingly lifeless bulbs. The bright green sprouts sym bolize that spring is indeed on the way. This year it seemed to me like I just put the Christmas decorations away in time to get out the Easter eggs and daffodil flower arrangements. However, spring can be just as full with fun family tradition as the Christmas holiday has been. How many spring traditions do you celebrate in your family? One favorite family tradition of ours (or more correctly my mother’s) mvolved yard work. My mother insisted that the Easter bunny did not come to dirty lawns. Therefore, the entire yard and flower beds had to be raked and spruced up by Easter day to ensure the arrival of the bunny. I must say, this tradition continued long after the identity of the Easter bunny was revealed. Another tradition is to have the peas and onions planted by St. Patick’s Day. A new dress for Easter, and a family picutre taken outside was another spring family tradition. If you are looking for some new Disabled formers will help them live independently. Through meeting with han dicapped farmers the specialists hoped to gain a greater ability to help disabled farmers continue fanning. The first day’s sessions were aimed at introducing the disabled person’s problems and society’s attitudes toward the handicapped. Dr. William Field, an Extension agricultural engineer and a national spokesman for the disabled, addressed the workshop about problems, facing han dicapped farmers. Access and mobility for everyday jobs are problems unique to the disabled, he said. Ernest Lareau, Maryland State Department of Education, vocational rehabilitation division, discussed special problems facing handicapped watermen. They, too, are facetf with mobility problems such as getting to their boats and using special equipment for crabs and oysters. Both speakers em phasized that these real and unique problems require extra skills, motivation and creativity on the part of both the disabled and his family. A stress management panel discussion followed, with panel members stressing that family and friends must offer extra support for a disabled person. They noted that a recently disabled person, in most cases, has lost at least some By Michelle S. Rodgers Berks Extension Home Economist family traditions to brighten your spring, here are a few ideas to get you started; • Pack a picnic basket and have a sunrise picnic breakfast. • Dress up the family dinner table with fresh cut flowers. • Decorate Easter eggs together as a family. Check in the library or current magazines for new ways to decorate eggs. • Make a calendar of historical events that happened prior to Easter. You can use the idea of an Advent calendar for the basic concept. • Create an Easter egg tree. Insert a sturdy twig into a flower pot of sand and hang your decorated eggs on it. • Take family walks and look for all the signs of spring. • Line a basket and plant real grass seed in it to have a real bed of grass for displaying your decorated eggs. • Try new recipes of traditional Easter foods from other countries. • After the egg hunt, crack the decorated shells of the eggs and glue them into a colorful mosaic picture. • Have a family time to share poetry and short stories of spring. Hopefully these ideas will get your family started on your own set of rich traditions to celebrate the coming of spring. Starting new traditions with your family will probably be as refreshing as the first crocus bloom. Penn State la an affirmative action, equal opportunity institution. face physical, psychological barriers of his former independence and suffers additional worry and tension about his new emotional or physical limitations. The level of frustration increases for the handicapped person and his family alike, creating a need for ways to relieve stress. Panel members included Mrs. Edward Haas, farm wife; Dr. Agnes Hatfield, child study specialist, University of Maryland; and Stanley Stocker, counseling psychologist, Veterans Administration. Dr. William Scales, who is disabled himself, acted as moderator. The second day of workshops focused on equipment modifications that can reduce or eliminate some problems the disabled experience. Dr. William Field explained that several companies and many disabled farmers have combined efforts to design functional, safe lifts to transfer a handicapped person from wheelchair to tractor seat. One-handed attachments for hydraulic couplings and automatic hitching devices are also being developed. The ability to operate equipment has important physical and psychological benefits for the handicapped farmer. “Operating machinery in the fields reduces pressure sores, creates a better mental disposition and mental health,” Field said. However, operating equipment has its hazards as well as its benefits. For example in the case of a combine fire, a disabled farmer needs an average of six to eight minutes to get out. Self extinguishing systems are being developed to combat this problem. Another hazard is isolation. Field recommends that a CB or FM radio be installed in all equipment operated by han dicapped persons. “Make it as risk-free as possible to continue fanning,” he stressed. Thorough maintenance and pre-operation checks should take place to reduce the chance of breakdown, he continued. “It only takes three percent of the average equipment cost to make it accessible to the disabled farmer,” Field noted. “You can improve feeling of worth and self esteem and create actual physical therapy by making it possible for a farmer to use his equipment again. The IH 186 Hydro is the most converted tractor, with lifts and hand controls. Dr. Field noted that Don Skinner, a well-known disabled farmer from Illinois, has converted much of his In ternational equipment for his use by utilizing inexpensive parts from other machinery. Changes in the home can also make life easier for the han dicapped person. Extension home economist Dr. Judith Williamson talked about how the kitchen can be modified to meet the needs of the disabled cook. All switches and controls should be located on base cabinets and low enough for easy access, she suggested. A front-loading dish washer should also be included, along with sinks no deeper than five inches with inserted racks. Williamson also recommended installing a mirror over the range to see the back burners. A down draft vent system should be used with this system. Front burners or a staggered positioning to eliminate the need to reach across a hot unit is also a good idea. Lazy susans, side hinged doors on ovens and portable appliances can all make things easier to organize for efficient food preparation, she said. Waterman David Barnes and Dorchester County Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor Russel Miles discussed boat modifications that can allow a handicapped \ / a t *r w , Albert P. Mertz, McAdoo, demonstrates a Steiner Cor poration garden tractor conversion kit for wheelchair use at the Mid-Atlantic Disabled Workshop. person to harvest crabs and oysters. A boom for getting into the boat and synch for hauling in crab pots are two such adaptations. Dr. John Wells and Howard Fletcher, Computer and In formation Systems, University of Maryland, explained how com puters can help the disabled. Telecommunications are linking computers together using telephone lines, offering many present and future applications, they explained. can weather parents' divorce NEWARK, Del. - Children usually are distressed at news of their parents’ separation, but are they likely to be emotionally scarred by divorce? Probably not, if the emotional climate of the home is basically healthy and supportive, says Delaware State College extension home economist Deborah Walker. Research shows most youngsters do not suffer long term or persisting psychological difficulties as the result of a divorce. “Tears, tension and withdrawal are typical signs of a distress,” says Walker. “Some children, particularly adolescents, take the news in stride. Those who have been treated badly by a parent may be happy to get away. Children are resilient and can survice most family crises if some attention is paid to their needs.” Researchers have found more psychological disturbances, school problems and psychosomatic illnesses among children living in unhappy, stressful, unbroken homes than in youngsters who live in single parent homes, Walker reports. “It’s the emotional climate of the home, not the family structure, that contributes to a child’s sense of well being,” she says. The Extension Service telecommunicator goes through many county Extension offices in Maryland. Available information from this service includes market and weather reports and 4-H news. With the use of a home computer there will be a limitless supply of information available to the computer uses, they stressed. Many company and organization exhibits were on display during the workshop for the benefit of the disabled. Most youngsters The quality of the attention given a young child' during the separation process is extremely important. If the custodial parent is competent and caring, the child may adjust well; if the custodial parent is too involved in his or her own problems and neglects the needs of the child, the child will suffer. “In many studies, preadolescent children seem to be helped by the presence of brothers and/or sisters, and by good peer relationships,” the extension agent says. “The crucial factor in an adolescent’s response to divorce is the resiliency established before the parents’ separation. For children of all ages, continued contact with the non-custodial parent is important.” In other words, children who have a lot of support inside and outside the family (caring parents, close friends, good emotional development and success in school) tend to go through the divorce experience relatively unscarred. Less fortunate ones may have more difficulty. 1 ♦ *l -’•ss v’
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