To Life!

DUCAT1ON

One Cool KAT

JCC's inclusion program changes the lives of children and families.

Elizabeth Applebaum
Special to the Jewish News

T

he feel of paint was almost more
than 4-year-old Anthony could
bear.
He didn't want anything to do with it.
Nothing, nothing, nothing.
Then one morning Anthony's class at the
Sarah and Irving Pitt Child Development
Center in West Bloomfield was working on a
project. Children were asked to make hand-
prints. Anthony was not interested.
But Cassie Reinsmith was beside him,
and she asked Anthony to give it a try.
They would move slowly. "You can do this,
Anthony," she said.
And then he did.
Anthony Dziuba of West Bloomfield has
difficulties with auditory processing and
sensory integration, so what's ordinary for
most children can be confusing for Anthony.
His mother would call his name, and he had
no idea she was speaking to him. He wanted
nothing to do with touching something like
paint — usually nothing but good, squishy
fun for children.
KAT helped change all that.

The Story Of KAT
KAT (Kids All Together) is a Jewish
Community Center inclusion program, the
only one of its kind in Metro Detroit that
includes children with special needs, like
Anthony, in regular school, camp and other
activities.
The program is, of course, educational.
With the help of an inclusion counselor,
a child is guided one-on-one so that he
understands how to participate in a class-
room and better manage everyday chal-
lenges. Anthony, for example, slowly learns
to touch an unfamiliar, uncomfortable sub-
stance like paint. Another child, easily frus-
trated and unable to make friends, begins to
play with others and make friends.
So on a daily basis, KAT challenges chil-
dren with special needs to grow.
At the same time, it's always safe. Here,
a child is just a child, whoever he is. When
Anthony is having a tough day, when he
can't complete an activity because he's just
had enough, everyone understands.
In fact, other children are the first to step
forward. If Anthony has a difficult time
working on a project, a little girl often will
come over. "Here, Anthony," she will say. "You
need the blue crayon for this"
KAT began informally. A group of parents

Anthony Dziuba, 4, of West Bloomfield
gets in the groove at music class.

Anthony gets some help making his
hamentashen.

of children with special needs were looking
for specifically Jewish activities to provide
"shared family experiences',' says KAT
Director Ann Patronik.
Initially, the program operated with
a grant from the Jewish Fund and the
Skillman Foundation. When that money
came to an end, donors stepped forward.
Among them was the Narens family.
"The name says it all',' says Ed Narens. His
daughter-in-law, Lea Narens of Bloomfield
Hills, is a longtime KAT advocate.
KAT's major fundraiser is Camp KAT,
which supports programming for 100
children with special needs. This includes
students in the Child Development Center,
Center Day Camps, vacation-break camps,
swimming and hockey. (See box for details).

for more than a summer, but Julie was
so impressed — she could actually see
Anthony growing and developing — "that I
decided to keep him at the Center in the fall.
It's the best thing we've ever done for him."
In the regular classroom, Anthony's inclu-
sion counselor is there to give help when he
needs it. KAT Director Ann Patronik says,
"She should give support, but not smother."
This year, Cassie Reinsmith is Anthony's
inclusion counselor, and ifs a busy day in his
class, where his favorite subject is Hebrew
and his favorite activity is swimming.
The students have lined up in the hall.
Anthony wears a blue Spiderman shirt and,
like all the other children, he wiggles a bit,
waiting in line on his way to the kitchen for
a snack. Cassie gives Anthony a hug when he
asks for one, and then another.
In the kitchen, the snack today is cereal.
The children begin to eat, and the sounds of
tiny crunching fills the room.
A visitor would be hard-pressed to notice
any difference between Anthony and any
other child in the room. If told, "Pick out
the one who is different',' whom would you
choose? The boy with glasses, the girl who
can only have soy milk, or the child still snif-
fling a bit, long after her mother has left?
Shannon Harney and Ana-Leonor Jay are
the regular classroom teachers. Anthony's
improvement, even since the school year
began, is remarkable, they say.
"His attention span is still shorter [than
most children his age]," Cassie says. But
there was a time when he would grab a toy
he wanted from another child. Now he'll say,

"Where Do We Go?"
Julie and Tim Dziuba already had two
little girls, high-spirited Caitlyn, now 8,
and friendly Isabel, now 6, when their son
Anthony was born.
He was a sweetie pie and, from early on,
a charmer. He had hair the color of wheat,
chubby cheeks and bright-blue eyes. But
he didn't talk. He was 2 and still Anthony
said nothing, "Not Mom, Dad, yes, no," Julie
recalls. Finally, a friend suggested the family
have Anthony tested.
When Julie learned about Anthony's spe-
cial needs, she went right to work, arranging
for her son to meet regularly with specialists
and have extra help at public school.
In the summer, Anthony enrolled in the
JCC camp. The Dziubas never planned

"I want to play with that" and wait his turn.
"Anthony needs this social setting;'
Shannon says. In a class with other children
who have special needs he could get away
with a lot. But here, good behavior is expect-
ed of everyone.
"I, too, have seen a tremendous growth in
Anthony:' says Fredelle Schneider, director
of the Pitt Child Development Center. "When
he started here I would try and speak to
him, but he never responded. I felt maybe it
was just because he did not know me that
well and did not see me on a daily basis.
"A few weeks ago, Cassie happened to
bring him up to the office and I started
asking him a lot of questions: 'Do you like
school?' What is your favorite thing to do
at school?' Who do you like to play with?'
With each question, he gave me a happy
response.
Anthony's family is optimistic that, in
the not-too-distant future, Anthony will be
able to manage all by himself.
Credit for that success goes to the
Dziubas. Each family member contributes to
Anthony's continued development, whether
it's driving him to a therapist's appointment
or encouraging his verbal skills. Another
piece of the puzzle is being put into place by
KAT, his mom, Julie, says.
"It is just amazing how far Anthony has
come,' she says. "I don't know where we
would have been without this program."

Elizabeth Applebaum is a marketing

specialist for the Jewish Community Center

of Metropolitan Detroit.

The Jewish Community Center
of Metropolitan Detroit will host
"Camp Kids All Together (KAT)
- A Day of Family Fun to Benefit
Children with Special Needs" from
noon-4 p.m. Sunday, March 11, at the
JCC in West Bloomfield. The event
will feature a variety of entertain-
ment and activities for people of all
ages, including a children's stage
with DJ, a rock-climbing wall, face
painting, arts and crafts, basketball,
a magician and a mess hall with
family friendly food. This event is
open to the public. Tickets are $20
per person. Children 2 and younger
are free. For information, call Ann
Patronik, special needs director,
(248) 432-5460 or visit
www.jccdet.org .

March 8 2007

33