Scosa

Last updated

scosa
Merged into2019
Successor Novita Children's Services
Founded1950
TypeIncorporated
Headquarters Woodville, South Australia
Area served
South Australia
AffiliationsNational Disability Services, Cerebral Palsy Australia [1]
Website http://www.scosa.com.au/

scosa (the Spastic Centres of South Australia Inc.) was a South Australian organisation providing a range of supports to children and adults with disabilities. Initially it focused on people with cerebral palsy. In August 2019, it was announced that scosa was to merge into Novita. [2] [3]

Contents

History

Scosa had its beginnings in the efforts of parents of children with cerebral palsy.

In 1946, Norman Taylor, the then-president of The Crippled Children's Association of South Australia (now known as Novita Children's Services), invited Daphne Gum to return to Adelaide to establish a centre for the care of children with cerebral palsy. [4] Gum was the Director of the Spastic Centre ("The Centre") was established in the then Adelaide Children's Hospital, officially opening on 6 March 1946. The Centre used one room in the first-floor Outpatients' Department. As the lifts were old and unreliable, at times pupils were carried up and down the stairs. On 3 November 1949 the Centre moved to a prefabricated building of three rooms which had been purchased in Kermode Street, North Adelaide.

Scosa was incorporated on 18 April 1950 as the South Australian Spastic Paralysis Welfare Association Inc. [5]

SCOSA established a home (opened 29 November 1952) [6] and school at Woodville and also provided other services including: speech pathology; physiotherapy; occupational therapy; medical services; splint making; accommodation; with palliative care and a nursing home services.

From 1995 the Government of South Australia Department of Education took on the responsibility for children with disabilities and deinstitutionalisation led residents of institutional accommodation into the community, with CARA (Community Accommodation and Respite Agency Inc). [7]

Facilities

South Australian Spastic Paralysis Welfare Association (1948 - 1983) [8] and Spastic Centres of South Australia, SCOSA (1983 - ) [9]

Miss South Australia and Miss Australia

The Miss South Australia Quest was run by Spastic Centres of South Australia Inc. [5] which as a member of The Spastic Centres of Australia ran the Miss Australia Quest/Awards for 45 years from 1954 to 2000. Over its duration entrants, their families, committees, sponsors and the general public of Australia raised in excess of A$87 million. [14]

People

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cerebral palsy</span> Group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sensation, vision, hearing, and speaking. Often, babies with cerebral palsy do not roll over, sit, crawl or walk as early as other children of their age. Other symptoms include seizures and problems with thinking or reasoning, each of which occur in about one-third of people with CP. While symptoms may get more noticeable over the first few years of life, underlying problems do not worsen over time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scope (charity)</span> UK disability charity

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Spastic diplegia is a form of cerebral palsy (CP) that is a chronic neuromuscular condition of hypertonia and spasticity—manifested as an especially high and constant "tightness" or "stiffness"—in the muscles of the lower extremities of the human body, usually those of the legs, hips and pelvis. Doctor William John Little's first recorded encounter with cerebral palsy is reported to have been among children who displayed signs of spastic diplegia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minda Inc</span>

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In medicine, the adjective spastic refers to an alteration in muscle tone affected by the medical condition spasticity, which is a well-known symptomatic phenomenon seen in patients with a wide range of central neurological disorders, including spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, stroke, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and multiple sclerosis (MS), as well as conditions such as "spastic colon." The word is derived via Latin from the Greek spastikos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Management of cerebral palsy</span>

Over time, the approach to cerebral palsy management has shifted away from narrow attempts to fix individual physical problems – such as spasticity in a particular limb – to making such treatments part of a larger goal of maximizing the person's independence and community engagement. Much of childhood therapy is aimed at improving gait and walking. Approximately 60% of people with CP are able to walk independently or with aids at adulthood. However, the evidence base for the effectiveness of intervention programs reflecting the philosophy of independence has not yet caught up: effective interventions for body structures and functions have a strong evidence base, but evidence is lacking for effective interventions targeted toward participation, environment, or personal factors. There is also no good evidence to show that an intervention that is effective at the body-specific level will result in an improvement at the activity level, or vice versa. Although such cross-over benefit might happen, not enough high-quality studies have been done to demonstrate it.

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Spastic cerebral palsy is the type of cerebral palsy characterized by spasticity or high muscle tone often resulting in stiff, jerky movements. Cases of spastic CP are further classified according to the part or parts of the body that are most affected. Such classifications include spastic diplegia, spastic hemiplegia, spastic quadriplegia, and in cases of single limb involvement, spastic monoplegia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spastic hemiplegia</span> Medical condition

Spastic hemiplegia is a neuromuscular condition of spasticity that results in the muscles on one side of the body being in a constant state of contraction. It is the "one-sided version" of spastic diplegia. It falls under the mobility impairment umbrella of cerebral palsy. About 20–30% of people with cerebral palsy have spastic hemiplegia. Due to brain or nerve damage, the brain is constantly sending action potentials to the neuromuscular junctions on the affected side of the body. Similar to strokes, damage on the left side of the brain affects the right side of the body and damage on the right side of the brain affects the left side of the body. Other side can be effected for lesser extent. The affected side of the body is rigid, weak and has low functional abilities. In most cases, the upper extremity is much more affected than the lower extremity. This could be due to preference of hand usage during early development. If both arms are affected, the condition is referred to as double hemiplegia. Some patients with spastic hemiplegia only experience minor impairments, where in severe cases one side of the body could be completely paralyzed. The severity of spastic hemiplegia is dependent upon the degree of the brain or nerve damage.

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Daphne Lorraine Gum MBE, OA was an Australian pioneer in the care and education of children with cerebral palsy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claudia Burton Bradley</span> Australian orthopaedist, paediatrician, pharmacist and researcher

Claudia Portia Burton Bradley was an orthopaedist, paediatrician and pharmacist. Her main area of work and research was cerebral palsy, which led her to become the first medical director of the Spastic Centre of New South Wales and the founder of the Australian Cerebral Palsy Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Novita Children's Services</span>

Novita is a South Australian disability organisation, providing support, services and equipment to children, teens and young adults living with disability, their families and carers. In August 2019, it was announced that scosa was to merge into Novita.

Elizabeth Catherine Usher AO (1911–1996) was a speech disorders therapist and academic. She was the first person from Queensland to study speech therapy.

References

  1. Cerebral Palsy Australia
  2. (19 Aug 2019), SA NDIS providers Novita, scosa finalise merger after members approval, The Advertiser (subscription required)
  3. (22 Aug 2019), One big family Novita and scosa in alliance, The Advertiser, pg. 25
  4. Gum, Daphne Lorraine (1916 - ) at The Australian Women's Register, Retrieved 2 March 2016
  5. 1 2 History of scosa - scosa has had an influential role in the evolution of disability services and support in SA since 1946 at the Wayback Machine (archived 30 October 2022)
  6. "Opening Of Spastic Home". The Advertiser (Adelaide) . Vol. 95, no. 29, 333. South Australia. 16 October 1952. p. 14. Retrieved 2 March 2016 via National Library of Australia.
  7. History - Community Accommodation and Respite Agency, (2014) CARA Inc, Retrieved 2 March 2016
  8. South Australian Spastic Paralysis Welfare Association (1948 - 1983) at Find & Connect, Retrieved 2 March 2016
  9. Spastic Centres of South Australia, SCOSA (1983 - ) at Find & Connect, Retrieved 2 March 2016
  10. Woodville Spastic Children's Home (1952 - 1960?) at Find & Connect, Retrieved 2 March 2016
  11. Woodville Spastic Children's Home (1952 - 1960?) at Find & Connect, Retrieved 2 March 2016
  12. Dew Street Cottage (1986 - 1991) at Find & Connect, Retrieved 2 March 2016
  13. Albara Road Cottage (1982 - ) at Find & Connect, Retrieved 2 March 2016
  14. About Us - Miss Australia, Cerebral Palsy Alliance website.

Official website