Free children's mental health screenings set

Parents who have serious concerns about their children's mental health or those who just need validation that their child is behaving normally can take advantage of free children's mental health screenings Saturday at the Central Florida Neuropsychology office.

The office is located at 4325 Sun 'n Lake Blvd., in Sebring, next to Zeno's restaurant.

The screenings, which are part of National Children's Mental Health Awareness Week, will be offered from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Each screening may take 35 to 45 minutes, so appointments are necessary and can be scheduled by calling 385-HELP (4357).

Psychologist Susan L. Crum, who will be one of three conducting the screenings, said Monday she had a practice from 1986 to 2001.

When her husband died in 2001 due to heart disease, she had an opportunity to become a stay-at-home mom with her 3-year-old adopted daughter from Vietnam, until she opened her new practice in Sebring Jan. 6.

She had sold her practice in 2001 and moved to be close to her family.

"It was a good decision because my daughter had a lot of disabilities resulting from starvation in Vietnam and we spent a lot of time with physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, therapeutic horseback riding and I needed the time to help her with those challenges," she said. "Now, that my daughter is doing well and preparing to enter middle school, I felt it was time to resume my work in neuropsychology."

Crum, who also works with adults, said she got the idea to do the free children's screenings for National Children's Mental Health Awareness Week, from her former practice in New York.

"I used to do these every year in my practice in New York and I didn't see anyone doing these screenings here," she said. "It's important. If you can identify a mental health issue early you have a better prognosis.

"If a problem is allowed to go on year after year undetected, there are really long-term consequences."

Some of these may include dropping out of school, use of alcohol or drugs and incarcerations, she said.

Early detection of all mental health issues is good for the child, good for the family and good for the community, she said.

"I think the only reason people don't do this is there is still a stigma attached to mental health," she said.

Crum said she will team up Saturday with psychologist Tia Kern-Butler and mental health counselor Holly Brannon, of The Starlight Center Inc. for Child and Adolescent Psychology, who also specialize in children's mental health assessments, therapy and psychological testing.

Friends for the last 25 years, Kern-Butler and Brannon currently have their office at 901 U.S. 27 N., Suite 28, in Sebring. Butler has been a licensed psychologist for nine years.

Brannon has been working in the mental health field for 10 years and has been a licensed mental health counselor for one year.

"The purpose of National Children's Mental Health Awareness Week is to promote awareness of well being and human development of our nation's children," Butler said.

Sometimes, parents may suspect something is going on. Sometimes, parents just need assurance that a child is just behaving normally.

"We look at if there is a change in behavior, a change in grades, if the grades are declining, a change of friends," said Brannon.

"We look at how long the concerns are going on," said Butler. "How much it impairs the child's ability to take part in their daily activities."

They often see children who are coping with a death, a divorce, and cases of alcoholism or drugs in the parents or in the children themselves.

They can expect some kinds of behaviors or acting out, but sometimes the problems linger.

"If those symptoms don't dissipate over time, then perhaps the child is having problems processing," said Butler. "We can all go through traumatic things in life. Each of us has a different capacity to cope."

Butler said she began her practice with chronically mentally ill adults. She learned most of their problems began in childhood, she said.

"I'm a proactive person," she said. "I'm a big believer in early intervention. When I started graduate training I tailored all my training to working with children and adolescents."

Eligible children for this screening should be between ages 4 to 17, said Crum.