Remembering the Lost Children

Pictured are Parents Are Teachers participants William, Amy, and April, and their mother, Verla Miller.

By Cindy Butor & Rayann White

In a crowded classroom of 20 or more young students, all vying for one over-worked teacher’s attention, some students get lost. These are the students with a little too much energy, who fuss and fidget, eliciting a dozen exasperated cries of, “Can’t you just sit still?” These are the students who puzzle over what their friends can do so easily. These are the students yearning for a quiet, safe place to learn. These are the students with special needs who need help.

An individual is diagnosed with special needs if they have a learning difficulty, physical disability, or emotional and behavioral difficulties. If their condition is not addressed early enough or if it’s severe enough, they may require specialized educational, medical, or psychological care for the rest of their lives.

According to the National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families, in 2011 68% of all children in Kentucky (or 116,082) had at least one risk factor known to increase the chance of poor health, school, and developmental outcomes. The KIDS COUNT Data Center estimated that in 2007 24% of all children in Kentucky (or 40,970) were diagnosed with special health care needs. Annually, the state of Kentucky spends $31 million on children’s special health care needs.

Children with special needs require extra care, especially in the early developmental years of their lives. Neglecting these critical years can weaken babies’ brain development, crippling their ability to think, reason, or analyze and can result in a lifetime of problems.

The Christian Appalachian Project’s Parents Are Teachers program bridges the gap between early intervention programs and occupational therapists by providing at-home, one-on-one care for young children with developmental delays.

The program is a home-based early-intervention program for infants and children with defined disabilities and developmental delays or who are at risk for delays. The participating children come from households living at or below the poverty line in Rockcastle and Jackson counties. The program believes that every child has the right to reach his or her full potential in the least restrictive environment possible and that all children should be valued and identified by their strengths regardless of their mental, physical, or emotional delays/disabilities.

Suzann Fenton is the program’s dedicated resident teacher. She holds degrees in Elementary Education and Early Childhood and has been teaching for over 40 years. “I’ve always been interested in people that were delayed or struggled with education, and I think a lot of that is because I really struggled when I was in school,” Suzann said in an interview. “I feel that that’s helped to make me a lot more compassionate because I struggled so hard in school to make it through. I can really identify with my families.”

Suzann came to the Parents Are Teachers program in 1987 and has risen to become the head of it. “I feel like I’ve found my niche in Parents Are Teachers. I just really love it,” she said.

In the past 26 years, Suzann has helped hundreds of children throughout the Cumberland Valley and garnered both local and international praise. One mother, who wished to remain anonymous, said of Suzann’s work with her daughter, “You could tell a difference in a week. It was just really amazing, and [Suzann] has helped me understand how [my daughter] develops, when she should develop, [and] certain areas and milestones. She’s just always been there to answers questions or any concerns. We just really appreciate everything that she’s done for us.”

However, Suzann’s dedication to her participants doesn’t end when they “graduate” from Parents are Teachers and go on to preschool or kindergarten. She remains in contact with her former students for years and will often visit them in their homes, sharing old photographs and memories.

One group of students that she’s particularly proud of is the Miller children: April, 17; William, 13; and Amy, 10. All three children participated in the Parents are Teachers program and worked with either an occupational therapist or a speech therapist.

The three of them are from Eastern Kentucky, and are bright, willing to learn, and friendly--but with a dark past. An abusive living situation landed the three of them in foster care several times until they were finally adopted by Verla Miller in October of 2012. The three immediately noticed a big difference. “[Our parents] care about us more and don’t try to get rid of us,” William said. For three children with such a turbulent history, they are remarkably collected and well adjusted.

April is bright, talkative, and at ease with herself and her surroundings. She plans to go to Eastern Kentucky University in fall 2014 to become an occupational therapist. She credits Suzann and the Parents Are Teachers program with her desire to work with and help children. “When I was little,” she recalls, “I actually had an occupational therapist because I couldn’t really say my r’s. I had speech problems. I really liked [the program] a lot, and I like kids so I want to work with kids.”

In Eastern Kentucky, there are literally hundreds of children and parents with similar success stories and even more waiting for help from Suzann.

However, it wasn’t too long ago that the Parents Are Teachers program was facing possible cancellation. Due to the economic downturn, the program has been decreasing in size and Suzann had to make do with nothing more than her intelligence, compassion, and educational equipment 10 – 15 years out of date. That all began to change when the program came to the attention of the WHAS Crusade for Children.

The Crusade is a public charity based in Louisville, Kentucky. Established in 1954 by WHAS-TV, it raises money for agencies, schools, and hospitals to better the lives of children with special needs in Kentucky and southern Indiana. Since its inception, it has helped millions of children (over 220,000 in 2012 alone) and raised over $150 million through its annual campaign that culminates in a 30-hour-long telethon during the first full weekend in June.

credits their success with their ability to keep the Crusade community-based and grassroots. She calls the Crusade “an organic fundraising effort determined by the community.” To that end, the Crusade tirelessly updates its outreach programs, working with fire departments through the city and nonprofits and schools throughout Kentucky and southern Indiana; unveiling a new downloadable donation app this year; and updating a live on-screen donation crawl so that donors can see their donation in action. “We really build up people feeling personal,” Dawn said. “It creates a difference for people to… be part of this grassroots effort.”

In 2011, the Parents Are Teachers program received a $4,000 grant from the Crusade to purchase updated learning and assessment equipment. The Crusade also created a short film about the program and one of its participants, which it then broadcast on the WHAS network, bringing the Parents are Teachers program to thousands of viewers throughout the area. Because of the Crusade’s exposure, the program has become more active, garnering donors from across the country and enabling supervisors to organize more events for the families and children. Over 100 children have benefited from the Crusade’s help.

Thanks to early intervention programs like Parents Are Teachers and tireless charities like the WHAS Crusade for Children, fewer children will find themselves lost when they enter school. Fewer will have to repeat grades. Fewer will be told they’ll never graduate high school and go to college. And perhaps more will go on to believe in themselves. Parents are Teachers and the Crusade stand hand-in-hand to make that future a reality. •

To learn more about the Parents Are Teachers program and how to help, visist the Christian Appalachian Project website at christianapp.org. To learn how you can donate to the WHAS Crusade for Children and participate in their yearly campaign, go to their website at crusadeforchildren.org or call (502) 582-7706.