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+ PAGE A10 â€" WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, MA House ar" They will be men like Drs. Abram Hoffer and Humphreyâ€"Osâ€" mond, who exploded the myth that psychotherapy and/or prescription drugs were the only approaches to coping with schizophrenia. Geoff Fellows operates the Human Resource Development Institute, P.O. Box 642, Cambridge N1R 5W1, providing effectiveness training for business and industry. Psychiatry is a new branch of an old profession â€" medicine. As long as it keeps growing, there‘s hope for it; and it is satisfying to know that it is achieving as good results today as the methods that have been used for centuries by African witch doctors. But we have a long way to advance from here. There are a great many dedicated, excellent people seeking the answers to mental health problems. That they will find them, there is no doubt; but they will be the seekers after truth, unfettered by professional vanity and myopia. They will be the original thn}kers‘ not the dogmatists. Smz ze Of course, we must remember that in Africa they have been developing the treatment of mental disorders for centures, while we were still throwing the poor sufferers into asylums, prisons and other means of confinement where society could conveniently forget them. One of these days there is going to be a real breakthrough in the treatment of mental illness. But it will never come by rigidly clinging to the dogma of the past. The breakthrough in this field is more likely to come through openâ€"minded research, such as is being done at McGill‘s section of Transcultural Psychiatric Studies, and by admitting that we don‘t know half as much as we like to pretend we know. Treating mental illiness requires openâ€"minded thinking and research The doctor went on to point out that they have their failures, too, but after comparing their techniques and ours, he said: "I can‘t honestly say that our psychiatric techniques are demonâ€" strably superior to many of those employed by witch doctors". $ oo dnc T LW 1 1 In other words, the firoof i;;;'l;l“;jlgll:e;l:fis and the wit.ciz doctors seem to be just as successful in treating seriously deranged mental patients as do our highly trained psychiatâ€" Dr. Prince repor;éd?‘ that he made an intensive study of 101 inâ€" patient psychotics. Eightâ€"three improved significantly and 58 of these made a full social recovery and were able to return to their homes. According to Dr. Prince, a psychotic, seriously deranged person is usually brought to the centre, often in shackles, by a throng of relatives.. Sometimes, though, a healer and his assistants have to go out and capture a dangerous patient that everyone else is afraid of. They do this, incidentally, by reciting magic incantations that subdue their patients long enough to grt'lb them, tie them up and bring them to the centre. _ When they get thererthé; aregaene;all)'"v;ashed down first in snail‘s water â€" a clear, cool fluid found in the cone of the giant African snail. This appears to soothe them. They next get a potion that has been mixed just for this purpose for centuries. It has some rauwolfia in it, a genus of tropical trees and shrubs. After this they go to sleep, but this is not the entire treatment. Dr. Raymond Prince, a psychiatrist and lecturer at McGill University‘s section of Transcultural Psychiatric Studies, spent 20 months as a govenu#t psychiatrist at Aro Hospital and conducted a field study of psychiatric treatment centres run by Nigema‘s Yoruba witch doctors. In Africa â€" western Nigeria to be exact â€" mental health problems have been cured by an ancient, soâ€"called magic that dates from "the morning time of the world". Since 1974 Whirlpools, Saunas Spas, Hot Tubs Dr. Richard Stetfty, a poychmlst at the Unive is one of the many individuals involved Disabilities Association of Kitchenerâ€"Waterioo _ Noted men of genius and accomâ€" plishment such as Albert Einsâ€" tein, Hans Christian Anderson, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Ediâ€" son and Sir Winston Churchill Unfortunately, such feeling of inadequacy can cause the child to, in frustration, give up and abanâ€" don their academic studies. In fact, the learning disabled child may possess the capabilities and pot'ential to thrive academically. Feelings of inadequacy are comâ€" mon to the learning disabled child, not only as the result of the labels others give him or her, but of a selfâ€"noted inability to "keep up" with others. But in fact, that child may be one of the one in 10 Canadians who suffers from a learning disaâ€" bility. The child who has trouble readâ€" ing â€" who stumbles over or mispronounces words in the classâ€" room â€" is often laughed at by classmates and labeled "dumâ€" my". Deborah Crandall Chronicle Staff For example, a person who has trouble differentiating left from right might check his or her ring finger to make the distinction. "We want to help them feel better about themselves, and about what the can and can‘t do," says Association president Greta Cramer, an educational therapist with extensive experience in helping learning disabled chilâ€" dren and adults. "If they can‘t do it, well let‘s find a way that they can. That‘s our whole approach. They can do it, we just have to find a way." There is no cure for learning disabilities â€" they don‘t go away with treatment. So these men likely found alternative ways to learn ahd express what they‘d learned. The Learning Disabilites Assoâ€" ciation of Kitchenerâ€"Waterloo is dedicated to helping local persons with learning disabilities do the same thing, enabling them to realize their fullest potential. are said to have suffered from learning disabilities. . * THE AREA‘S LaRGEST shownoom * 41 Models on Display * From $659 NOW ON SALE! House o Cedar 210 Regina St. N,, Waterloo 885â€"1711 in the Learning Teen Spectrum, a social skills program for 14 to 17 year olds, helps learning disabled youths interact with each other as well as the outside world. Cramer says a group of youths (Continued on page A15) Kaleidoscope is a Saturday morning recreational program for six to 12 year olds. Three 10â€"week sessions offer fun program which accent social skills through creaâ€" tive arts. the public, the association offers programs to children with learnâ€" ing disabilities. Monthly information and public awareness meetings and an annuâ€" al parenting course, Parenting the Learning Disabled Child, are held by the association. But more than providing information about lgarning disabilities to parents a "That frontâ€"line phone call can make a big difference," Steffy says. "It can provide the parents with advice about their rights in the schools (as far as having their child provided with special educaâ€" tion), and can provide them with information about special events or meeting with speakers on learning disabilities." It is at this this stage of "awaâ€" kening" that the Learning Disâ€" abilites Association can be very helpful, Steffy says. Parents who call the association for help are given information about how a child‘s school can be of assistance by providing special education after a once happyâ€"goâ€"lucky kid has suddenly recognized a differâ€" ence (between themselves and ot!'xer children)," Steffy says. He says by the third or fourth grade, children with learning disabilities themselves begin to detect learning problems as do parents and teachers. ‘"Parents come to me for an assessment because they‘ve noâ€" ticed that their child‘s self feelâ€" ings have made a real drop â€" Learning disabilities are a comâ€" plex group of disorders caused by a dysfunction of the central neryâ€" ous system which prevents the brain from processing informaâ€" tion in the usual ways. The five major categories of learning disaâ€" bilities are: visual, auditory, moâ€" tor, organizational, and conceptuâ€" al. Dr. Richard Steffy, a professor of psychology at the University of Waterloo, and advisor to the local Learning Disabilities Associaâ€" tion, estimates that 10 per cent of school children suffer from a mild to severe leanu:ng disability. The "little trick" won‘t teach the learning disabled person left from right, but it will always tell him or her which is which.