WALK RAISES MONEY FOR PARENTS OF SPECIAL-NEEDS CHILDREN

The organizers of Saturday's Clayton Huey Benefit Walkathon want to raise money, but they are just as interested in raising awareness about children's mental health issues.

"A lot of people see these children and think they just need to be spanked," said Lisa Huey, a local organizer of the walk and the mother of the child the walk was named after. "They don't believe children can have mental illnesses like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, ADHD or clinical depression."

Parenting a child with a mental illness can be extremely challenging, said Huey, a member of the Missouri Statewide Advisory Network (MO-SPAN), a group for parents of seriously emotionally disturbed children. She speaks from personal experience.

Her son Clayton had severe mood swings that Huey thinks were signs of bipolar disorder, though the psychologists and psychiatrists who treated Clayton were reluctant to diagnose him as such.

"He would go from being extremely manic, happy and out of control to being so depressed he didn't want to live anymore," Huey said.

At age 7, Clayton was put on a medication to treat post traumatic stress disorder that sent into a permanent manic state, his mother said. One evening, he set off from his house by himself, something he'd never done before, headed to the park to play baseball and was struck by a truck as he tried to cross Broadway, Huey said. He died the next morning, the day he was supposed to go to Jefferson City to present an award to the MO-SPAN Child of the Year, an award he had won the year before.

That was in May 1997 and Huey has been helping to organize the walkathon every year since then.

"Clayton was such a loving, special child who cared so much about others. This is my way of keeping going. It's not so much for his memory, but to have something good come out of something so tragic," Huey said.

The money raised at Saturday's Walkathon, which Huey hopes will top $5,000, will be used for scholarships for training classes for parents of children with co-occurring diagnoses. The training covers basic educational rights, building partnerships with professionals and being an advocate for your child.

Huey said getting the correct diagnosis for a mentally ill child is difficult. Psychiatrists are sometimes reluctant to diagnose severe mental illness in children. Plus children, because they have problems putting their thoughts and feelings into words, can be difficult to diagnose, Huey said.

"In most cases parents are the experts on their child. They have to be able to convey information to the professional for an accurate diagnosis. That's why the workshops are so important," Huey said.

The walkathon also is used to get the word out about MO-SPAN, which offers help and support to parents of seriously emotionally disturbed children. MO-SPAN has a toll-free number parents can call to be put in touch with a network member in their area, Huey said. That member can talk to the parent about community mental health facilities in the area, resources that are available and help with working with school districts.

"Say someone called who was having difficulty finding in-home services. We would help them locate such services, plus we would help them come up with ideas to help keep the child in the home," Huey said.

This might include locating respite care or ideas on financing the services needed, Huey said.

The toll-free number for MO-SPAN is (877) 9MOSPAN (966-7726). Those interested can also visit the MO-SPAN Web site, http://mo-span.org, which has Clayton Huey's story and details on the walkathon, Huey said.

WALKATHON INFO

What: Clayton Huey Memorial Benefit Walkathon

When: 2 p.m. Saturday

Where: Parking lot at Cottonwood treatment Center, 1025 Sprigg.

Why: Raise money for scholarships for training classes for parents of seriously emotionally disturbed children.

Details: Walkers in the three-mile walk are aksed to seek pledges from friends, family and co-workers. Pledge sheets are available at Value Gas, 2201 Broadway, and Tans R Us, 91 S. Plaza Way, or call Lisa Huey, 339-1254.