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100 and not out
-Samantha Thompson

Kids in Perth - The Parents' Paper is celebrating its 100th issue this month. 100 issues ago, before there was the internet and other great tools for parents, Kids in Perth - The Parents' Paper started out with the idea to provide a resource guide for parents, to bring together information so that parents could easily access it.

Over our 100 issues we have tried to incorporate elements parents have asked for, features on education, health and sport, birthdays, performing arts, among others. This month we are pleased to announce our relationship with HBF on our Just Say Aaah page - designed to give you information about all things medically related. Our Party Page continues to be a favourite with parents stuck for birthday ideas. This month we feature some school holiday ideas to keep the kids out of your hair over the winter holidays. Our diary has become so big that we can no longer print all of the entries we receive. Be sure to check it out on www.kidsinperth.com to get the full listing.

Kids in Perth - The Parents' Paper is also available more widely than ever - you can now pick it up from your local Guardian Pharmacy or McDonaldís as well as your local supermarket or Child Care Centre.

Even though it's our birthday we will be giving you the presents! We have heaps of chances for you to win some great prizes this month. We will also be giving you the opportunity to have your say on where you would like the paper to go. Over the coming months we at Kids in Perth - The Parents' Paper will be giving you the chance to let us know a bit about yourselves so that we can better tailor your paper to your needs. Let us know what you like, what you donít like, what you want to see more of. This is your chance to shape your paper. To take our survey, and be in the draw to win a Haunted Mansion pack valued at over $100, visit www.kidsinperth.com. 

We would like to thank the contributors, some of whom have been with us for most of our 100 issues. Without their input, the paper wouldn't be where it is today.

But more than anything Kids in Perth - The Parents' Paper would like to thank you, the readers, who have continued to support us throughout the years. Without you, we wouldn't have made it to 100, and we certainly won't make it to 200.

Here's to our next 100 issues.

Parents urged to care for children's air!

The Asthma Foundation of WA is urging parents to butt out around children, in an attempt to curb the increasing incidence of childhood asthma in Western Australia.

With one in four Western Australians developing asthma before their fifth birthday, the Asthma Foundation of WA recently launched its Care for my Air! campaign, encouraging expecting and new parents to protect the foetus and newborn baby from exposure to tobacco smoke.

Despite years of pro-active anti-smoking campaigning, alarming statistics reveal 20 per cent of pregnant women in Australia smoke, and 42 per cent of children aged six and under live in a household with at least one smoker.

Asthma Foundation of WA Executive Director, John Shave, said asthma was the most prevalent chronic childhood disease (more than 50,000 cases of childhood asthma are attributed to passive smoking each year) and exposure to tobacco smoke was the single most preventable cause of asthma in children.

"The risk of developing asthma is markedly increased if a mother smokes during pregnancy or if a newborn is exposed to tobacco smoke," Mr Shave said.

"The campaign also encourages fathers, partners, family and friends to avoid smoking around pregnant women, as recent reports indicate passive smoke is almost as detrimental as active smoking, especially where foetuses and newborns are concerned."

Free Baby Starter Packs including information on how to politely ask people to avoid smoking around your unborn or newborn children, how to quit smoking, and how to reduce the chances of your child developing asthma are available from the Asthma Foundation WA.

Child health centres, day care centres and maternity hospitals throughout Western Australia are supporting the Care for my Air campaign, with over 500 centres distributing Baby Starter Packs to pregnant women and their families.

With winter on our doorstep, the Asthma Foundation of WA is also encouraging parents with children who suffer from wheezing, shortness of breath, tightness in the chest and coughing fits to take their children to a doctor for a check-up.

"There is a possibility that many parents are unaware their children suffer from the respiratory condition, which is especially prevalent in the winter months."

"The colder months often result in increased illness and viral conditions among children, and those with asthma, or who may be undiagnosed may be at a higher risk of attacks as a result of common winter illnesses."

"Colder days and nights may also result in parents smoking indoors more often, which again may trigger asthma attacks in children, or be harmful to little ones in the home."

Asthma is responsible for about 60,000 hospital admissions each year and one of the most frequently managed problem by general practitioners.

John Shave says it is essential to manage asthma through education and prevention because illness can strike very suddenly and people with asthma need to be prepared.

"I encourage people with asthma to speak to their doctor about an action plan to manage their asthma this winter."

For further information on how to manage asthma, or to obtain a free Baby Starter Pack, contact 1800 645 130 or visit www.smokefreebaby.org.au. 

Tips to create a smoke free environment for you and your baby

• One of the best things you can do for your baby is to make your home smoke-free. Opening the doors and windows will not protect your baby. Remove all ashtrays from inside your home.
• Make the car smoke-free and remove all ashtrays and the cigarette lighter.
• Use non-smoking stickers to inform others that your home and car are smoke-free. Place one on your car dashboard or bumper and/or on the front door or window of your house.
• Tell your family and friends that your home and car are smoke-free.
• Visit smoke free venues and congratulate these venues for being smoke-free.
• Donít be afraid to ask people not to smoke near you or your child. You and your child have the right to clean air.
• If you have another young child, place a no-smoking sticker on your pram.

If you are a smoker, think about quitting (call the Quitline on 131 848 or toll free for country callers 1800 198 024).

Slipping through the educational cracks
- Brad Hutchinson, Audiologist/Speech Pathologist

Children do not come with a manual. Often parents are required to implement trial and error to address their child's needs and wants.

In an ideal world, schooling would provide each child's educational needs. In the real world, classrooms usually consist of 30 or so students and the teacher is forced to aim their instruction at the level of the 'average' child. There is often little opportunity for one-on-one teaching and invariably it is the parent who is left to address any additional educational needs.

For one reason or another not all children fit into the 'average' range academically. In recent years, Central Auditory Processing Disorder (or CAPD) has been identified as one of the primary causes for learning deficits, and yet there is still little knowledge of this disorder within the general community. Individuals with CAPD have normal hearing thresholds and at least average intelligence but their brain experiences complications in detecting, attending to, localising, discriminating, and organising what they hear.

People with CAPD have difficulty understanding instructions and sustaining attention, particularly in the classroom environment where there is frequently competing background noise. The sounds of peers whispering or talking, air-conditioners or fans blowing, as well as lawnmowers or children playing sports outside, are just some of the common classroom distractions that make learning very difficult for these children. They need to expend so much mental energy and cognitive resources trying to sort through the various sources of auditory information that their brains are receiving, that they cannot learn or perform to their full educational potential.

The reason why they experience difficulties processing information is because the sounds of the English language have not been sufficiently imprinted on the language centres of their brain. While there may be different causes for this, often children have experienced multiple middle-ear infections during the period of critical language development of zero to four years old, whether or not these ear infections were recognised at the time. Despite the prevalence of CAPD, its symptoms are still frequently misinterpreted as signs of ADHD or ADD, a hearing deficit, general learning difficulties, or even depression. It is frustrating for the student, parents, and teachers to see a seemingly bright child struggle academically, without understanding why. As a result, they frequently slip through the educational cracks, where schools have neither the knowledge of how to address the childís needs, nor the resources. Furthermore they usually donít qualify for special educational assistance.

It is important to understand that if your child does have a processing deficit, it is unlikely they will outgrow these problems, without appropriate intervention. The difficulty lies in choosing the best way to assist your childís learning, given that there are so many options available. Most of the parents I meet have tried various programmes and tutoring, with limited success. This may be because the intervention is not addressing the underlying processing deficit. It is as though the builders are trying to stabilise the roof before the walls are completely built. Equally, it is essential to establish fundamental oral language skills before learning to read and write.

A very sophisticated computer and internet-based programme called Fast ForWord has been developed to address the problem of CAPD and other language and learning difficulties. Based on over 25 years of neurophysiological and behavioural research, this intensive and adaptive program increases the participantís ability to recognise and understand auditory information by two years on average, within only four to eight weeks of participation. The most important factor that distinguishes this programme from so many others is that there is a huge amount of research supporting not only the theory behind Fast ForWord, but also the programmeís effectiveness. It is because of Fast ForWordís unprecedented success that the programme forms part of the core school curriculum for thousands of students throughout the United States.

Fast ForWord is not available within Perth schools. However, Sonic Hearing has shown incredible success with the programme, enabling students to achieve to their potential in the classroom environment, enhance self-esteem, and establish motivation for learning in ways that traditional teaching or tutoring frequently cannot.

Brad Hutchinson is an audiologist and speech pathologist in private practice at Sonic Hearing. If you would like to have your child tested for CAPD or want to enquire further about the Fast ForWord programme, contact Sonic Hearing Head Office on 9271 7711.