Erin Oak Children's Centre

                

                    SPINNER February 24, 2014

Erin oak Kids Children Centre

    The Rotary Club of Brampton welcomed Dr. Janis Williams, Trevor Nash and B ill Hallatt of Erin oak. Erin oak was founded in 1971. It provides a comprehensive range of family-centered treatment, rehabilitation and support to children with disabilities and their families who reside in Peel, Halton and Dufferin County. Their services include Autism (intensive behavioral intervention), communication services which includes infant hearing screening, vision services. New borns gets tested for hearing in the hospital and if they fail, they are referred to Erin oak.

Dr. Williams spoke about autism. What is autism? How is autism diagnosed? Autism is a disease that impacts normal brain development leaving most individuals with communication problems, difficulty with social interactions and a tendency to repeat   specific patterns of behavior.  In diagnosing autism, look at behavior observations, look at cognitive abilities and look at ruling out other problems. There is no cure for autism, the centre can help kids get better at some of the issues but the issues never go away. Their learning is affected and they have to be taught things that we take for granted, they need to learn in a different way, i.e. how to toilet train and how to brush their teeth etc.

At Erin oak Children Centre, holistic support is given. The children learn social skills, life skills, how to tolerate change, how to play alongside other children. The centre also helps parents to learn different ways to interact with their children and help them to become more confident. 

In a development process, the centre in Brampton will be the largest; will have outdoor treatment space with child-friendly equipment. Integration with other children will be facilitated, they will have a gym, a pool and gardening areas so they can learn how to plant. Everyone is excited about this new centre and looking forward to what the next few years will bring, opening 2017 (Cstlemore Rd. & McVean Dr.).

Rotary can help by promoting Erin oak Kids and consider donating to the “In My Dreams” campaign.