End of public health promotion fund at SAM

The project “Increasing and expanding the availability of measures for the prevention of early developmental disorders and support for children”

s.m. in November, the Abromiškii rehabilitation hospital, together with its partner Sėkmingi vaikii, successfully implemented the project “Increasing and expanding the availability of measures for the prevention of early developmental disorders and support for children”.

The goal of the project is to create conditions for parents, guardians and specialists to acquire the missing methodological knowledge and practical skills on how to help children with multifaceted developmental disorders and to prepare a set of preventive measures for children with multifaceted developmental disorders.

During the implementation of the project, 2 contact cycles of complex theoretical and practical training were held for parents/guardians together with children up to 7 years of age: “Early prevention of developmental disorders and support for the child: parents are the first teachers” and “Prevention of sensory challenges and holistic support in connection with cognitive development” , during which 30 parents/guardians are trained. During the training, parents/guardians examined how to apply early prevention to a child with a disability or a risk of developmental delay, how to improve mutual communication in the family, and strengthen the competences and independence of parents/guardians when dealing with emerging social and other related problems. Child specialists introduced parents/guardians to ways to provide mutual support while caring for a child, how to recognize a child’s psychological characteristics. The major part of the training was devoted to an overview of the characteristics of children’s development, their basic needs, and the basic principles of promoting children’s development. Parents/guardians were trained in the principles of rehabilitation and behavior management at home, were introduced to the possibilities of inclusion in the educational process, and the peculiarities of communication with specialists. During training, child specialists together with parents/guardians and their children during practical sessions discussed the basic needs of children with impaired development – communication, language, independence; assessed the functional and social adaptation of children with developmental disabilities, what challenges parents face; provided recommendations for possible developmental disorders. During the practical sessions, parents/guardians were trained in the principles of structuring the environment and activities, and the application of sensory integration.

Children’s specialists prepared and presented to parents educational methodical visual material entitled “Main methods of rehabilitation and application of assistance to children with developmental disabilities in daily activities”, which is a valuable preventive tool and their daily ABC. After the implementation of the project, the practical skills and knowledge of the parents/guardians who participated in the project increased in caring for children with multifaceted developmental disorders or at risk of them in home conditions.

There has been an increase in the number of children with or at risk of multiple developmental disabilities receiving better quality care/nursing in a home setting.

During the implementation of the project, training was organized for specialists from all over Lithuania who work with children with developmental disorders, focused on basic knowledge about the developmental characteristics of early-age children with multifaceted developmental disorders, the basics of early intervention in the child’s natural environment, specialized knowledge about the latest scientifically based assessment and methods of practical assistance, professional competences related to various aspects of work with families. During the training, lecturers introduced specialists to multifaceted developmental disorders, their classification, signs and their understanding, early age autism, support methods, and environmental adaptation. The themes of family empowerment, practical application of visual structuring principles, the importance of music therapy and the Tomatis method, the positive behavior support and intervention (PEPIS) system, and the ethical solution to problematic behavior situations were also presented in detail. During the implementation of the project, more than 400 specialists working with children with multifaceted developmental disorders from all over Lithuania were trained. Specialists acquired significant competences in educating children with developmental disorders: the ability to understand early intervention and behavior management methods for children with multiple developmental disorders or at risk for them, and to apply at least two preventive behavior management methods, to recognize sensory integration difficulties experienced by children with multifaceted developmental disorders or their risks and learned to apply methods of overcoming them and preventive measures in practice. Also acquired abilities, taking into account the different needs of children, to plan and organize sensory integration activities in various environments, to adapt toys and teaching aids for children with or at risk of a developmental disorder, to practically promote the development of the child’s language and social communication, to plan and organize the most important skills for everyday life practical training, adapting or creating a favorable sensory environment for a child with a multifaceted developmental disorder or at risk of it.