Letters to the editor - Thursday (5-29-08)

Group offers help with Alzheimer's

I would like to commend Katie Scarvey for her excellent coverage of the recent workshop that Lutheran Services for the Aging (LSA) conducted featuring Teepa Snow. Teepa is a highly sought after educator in longterm care. Her wealth of knowledge and dynamic presentation make her seminars and workshops unforgettable.

LSA continues to be a leader in caring for the dementia patient. Not only has new space been totally devoted to these special needs, but ongoing educational opportunities for staff are continually presented. Combining prime elements from a variety of state-of-the-art approaches to elder care has allowed all of LSA's ministries to offer a hybrid of top quality care.

To meet the growing needs of families on the Trinity Oaks Campus, an Alzheimer's Support Group was been established. Meetings are now open to the general public. The meetings are held at 2 p.m. on the second Sunday of each month. Educational materials are provided, roundtable discussions are mediated by professionals working in the field, and caregivers have an opportunity to share concerns.

The next meeting will be June 8, in the chapel at Lutheran Home at Trinity Oaks. The featured speaker will be Sylvia Fiano. Sylvia was diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer's at the age of 49. She is now 55 and living on her own in Matthews, with support from friends and the Alzheimer's Association. She is an active volunteer with the Western Carolina Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association and intends to speak out for as long as she is able to be the voice of those with Alzheimer's who can no longer speak for themselves to say that "we must find a cure and we must find better ways to help."

Please join us for this special presentation. It is free of charge and open to the public. We look forward to seeing you.

— Brenda M. Zimmerman

Salisbury

Zimmerman is the activity director for the Lutheran Home at Trinity Oaks.

Abolish paddling

I read with great interest the fact that the well-being of children is the topic of the Rowan County Department of Social Services' sixth community round table. The group is scheduled to meet this Friday.

I would like to challenge this group to unite and ask for Rowan County Schools to abolish corporal punishment in its district. As long as the educated sector in a community is modeling violence as a solution, the children in that area really have no safe place. Rowan County is one of 66 districts that still allow their educators to pick up wooden boards and strike children.

In examining the overall health of a community and taking an honest inventory of the well-being of children, I hope that this group will agree that banning corporal punishment in this school district would be a positive goal, and one that this group will support. It is past time for this practice to end, and who better to take a stance on this than this group of individuals who clearly care enough to meet and discuss the future and health of children in this county? I challenge you to be a voice for the children in your district, and move forward from your round table to take up this discussion with your board of education.

— Peggy Dean

Waxhaw

Dean, a registered nurse, is a member of the board of directors for Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education.