Friday 24 May 2013

LDV MEETING IN BULGARIA/SOFIA-2013
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 































 


11.April 2013  in Sofia

Kindergarten  N55. „Veselina”

 

Today when we put a very big accent for integrate breeding and for inclusion in many places people try to go before every type of exclusion.In Bulgaria we discover that this thing is very elementary form in this country. They did not give to many attention for the education of children, who have special needs. The rules of the special educating in the country and the parents needing level is very low, very backward.

In our visitaion I can know the N55. „Veselina” day nursery, where are learning 320 children who are 3-7 years old. Every child learn in the group of her/his age. Int he nursery it is working 10 groups.In every group we can find maxim 30 kids and just 1 kindergartner and 1 helper. And between the kids are just 2 who need special cares. Both kids have psycho- motorical problems and one of the kids has problem with the communication too.

In Bulgaria we can not find just special nursery or just special groups. Most of the time the parents lett he children at home, maybe because thez think that the accomodation won’t be successful and they do not give chance for the chance equality.

The nursery accept the children who has special needs, they send just the children who are very high disability to the dayli disability center, which is a part of the health care consulation in Bulgaria.

The number of the workers int he nursery is 25, one of the worker is psychologist and one of them is logopedian. The children have chance to  try one time in a week with their own choice the swimming, the music or the dance (modern, folk), football or the karate.

The institution with their opportunity try to make conditions what is need for an efficient education. They teach  the children who have special needs for they growth level and try to prepare them for the school, because after 2000 the integration is working int he schools. In this nursery we can find too the school prepare group, where the children can learn mathemathics, mesology, mother language knowlegments.

The nursery is working with government financing, for the teaching of the children every month the parents pay 30 Euro, witch is include the payments of the teaching, the feeding, the safeness, because in front of the building a guardener take care of the childrens safeness.

The institutions equipment is acceptable. The rooms are kindless, coloured, and it is separated, like the children have place where they can sleep and places where they can play and learn. The nursery has a big garden where the children can play with the control of the kindergartener. But the toys are not acceptable for the EU expectations.

In our visitain we get experience that the educators endors the integrate nursing just in a few kids who have special needs. We wa suprised, because for us it is very important that the normal kids can learn how to accept them, to give help, to can be tolerate, acceptable, but for this normal kids need to see and work with children who  needs special cares from when they are just babys.

                                                                                                            Deák Izolda

                                                                                                AS.Casa Laura - Laura Ház

                                                                                                               Baraolt

11.April 2013  in Sofia

Association „Child and Space” – Small group care home

 

In the second day we visited the Child and Space non profit association. This building was made with Unicef help and it is working from 2010 and give home for 8  the children who needs special educations. There are children in age 3 for 18 and they live there like a family. Here live orfans who have mantal and phisical disability. The association try to find the way to connect with the parents, but unfortunetly there are just 2 children who are visited by parents regulary.. The educators and therapists work 8 hour/day and they got individual relationship with the children.

The children who live here need everduring care and they can liv just with the help of the assiciation. They need cares laki: change the diaper, feeding etc.

Because in Bulgaria the children who needs special educations did not got early developing, the children who live int he association got there the development. There are specialist, teachers who are coming from a school,they did not teach the children to write or read, they teach the children to how can they use theyre body, how can they move , how can they speak or communicate with each others. The teachers work there just to Monday to Friday and they use developments what they discover. Because of the grade of the disability the teachers must work with one child at the proper time, unfortunetly there are’nt sufficient worker so there are volunteers who are helping. A young medical specialist go there and make rehabilitaion trainings.

The programs are easy but very time-consuming. They woke up ath 10 o’clock at the morning , had breakfast , after that they go to the living room and start the developing programs.Sometime a teacher work with 2 children but a volunter is helping. The time of a training is maximum a half hour. The teachers work just 2 hour int he association. In 12 are the lunch, after than if the weather let it they go for ashort walk int he garden of the building what is little and uncared. After the walk the team are together and come a little rest

Int he afternoon the medical student make short personal developments, what is depend about the age and the demand of the child.

At 7 at evening is starting the evening programs: the bath, feeding and the sleeping.

            The integration is minimaly, they go out just sometime and they are’nt out long time.There are some children who can not stay on the hand-cart. Unfortunetly the association did not have to much worker who can take care of these children

            The workshop is mostly imppssible because of the grade of the disability.

The image of the future, the way for the integration are very darksome and deep, they don’t know what will happen after they will be 18, where they will live, unfortunetly there aren’t little  place for adult people who has disability just big places. Now there are conversation about these problems.In this place the grade of the disibility is very high so it is impossible to find job for them. In Bulgaria the chance for the integration is higher int he towns like in Sofia.

In the hospitals, after the birth the doctor approve for the parents witch associations can they choose for the children who needs special educations get state nursing, and unfortunetly they can not get the early developing. Those who have the chance to get a familiar association the workers chek up all the things of the children and and give him/her development programs.

            Now they work in a programlike the children who needs special educations can live with and raise with theyre parents, but go every day to the association for developing programs.

The approach of the doctors slowly changing, after the birth the mothers get 2 years liberty and every month they get a salary too.

The institutions who give special cares are parts of the Health Care Ministry. Now they try to make a new order with the help of Child Law Protection and with the Education Ministry. They try to make little familiar places and get over of the big institutions.

Int he association „Child and Space” unfortunatly they have financial problems too. The government advocacy is very low and for this they try to find sponsors in Bulgaria and outside of Bulgaria too.Unfortunatly the numbers who are helping is very low too.

            Bulgaria is working hard to can get a new strategy for the problem of the children and adults who need special cares, try to find a solution for this, raise specialists and give trainings for the people who want to work in these association. Try to find solution for the integration and inclusion with the collective work of the people.

Demeter Eva

AS.Casa Laura – Laura Ház

    Baraolt

 

12.April 2013  in Sofia

Frédéric Joliot-Curie

Sechondary school

 

In our visitation in Bulgaria we visited the Frédéric Joliot-Curie state school in Sofia which is one of the schools where they accept the children who needs special help. In this school a thousand kids are learning, in every class we can find 26 child, in age 6 to age 18. In these kids just 36 need special education.

In preliminary classes is just one child,who need special education, in the elementary classes they are 12, in the high school they are 16 and the lyceum they are 7, who needs special education. The number of the teachers who work in this school is 83 person, 5 of these teachers are assistant teachers: 2 teacher of clinical speachand 3 psychologist.

In Bulgaria there isn’t classes just for children who needs special education, they learn with normal kids. All of the classes is working with one teacher, independently how many kids are there who needs special education.

In the institution they keep count of: phizicaly-, emotionally-,mentaly-, visual- disability, and children who have problem with learning, and children who have autistical symptom.

The school accept cheerfully the children who have disability the sent just the children who have grave disability to the Daycare center which is in Bulgaria a part of the Health Care.

The institutions financial things come from the government, they try to make the conditions for inclusion with their possibilities.

Above all we can say that in Bulgaria the accepting of the people who have disability are in very elementary form.

The room where working with the personal development we can not find to good conditions. Some places in the building can not achiev for those who have phizical disability, the ways on the building isn’t clear. The parents of the children who learn here creat a parent commission, there is a parent in this group who is the parent of a child who has disability. The commission of the parents try to find solutions for the problems and not at least try to teach the normal kid show to accept those who has disability.

The school has a classrom for optional activity, which can use after school time.

Unfortunatly in Bulgaria thanks for political fighting no one make rules for educations. But in this school the teachers know that for the highest inclusion it is necesarry the cohesion, the solidarity and the efficient work like theyre motto said: „You are not alone”

 

Deák Izolda and Cristian Blanka

AS.Casa Laura – Laura Ház

Baraolt

12.April 2013  in Sofia

Sofia Municipal day care center for social rehabilitation of disabled

 

The institution was established in 1999. The institution’s capacity is 90 children and 150 adult, but this number changes monthly, depending on the number of persons who requires its service.

The institution is functioning in a two-storey building. Downstairs take place the medical care, such as physiotherapy and kinetotherapy and on the first floor operating a day center for people with disabilities. The building was built by the support of Republic of Korea.

The institution has specialists such as: 2 psychologists, 2 speech therapist - in separated cabinets-, 2 art therapists, who works with disabled adults in the day center, and a doctor physiotherapist, 3 kinetotherapists and 4 rehabilitation specialists.

The specialists organize a meeting every single week to talk over the problems and events for more efficient work.

Within the day center of institution we can’t talk about inclusion, because only disabled persons attends the programs.

They have a very good relation to nurseries and schools where children are coming for rehabilitations.

The head of institution is also thinks the importance of integration, therefore they organize joint programs, the specialists visit the institutions.  They also participate in competitions, where they can present their works.

To get into the institution is going through a social network. In Sofia there are 9 social services, where the specialists assess each cases and direct people to the most appropriate center.  It also belongs the child protection institution too. The social workers occasionally verify these centers.

My experience was that disabled youngsters’ future is quite uncertain in Sofia. They cease the big centers and created family houses for them, but to the question to what is going to happen to them after disabled youngsters reach 18 years they can’t answer.

The institution is financed by the state, the parents’ contribution is 3 Euro and they are also supported by the Republic of Korea. This amount of money is enough for operating the institution; therefore they can spend little on development. The state helps to provide the special tools too. Commuting to the institute is the peoples own cost, but if somebody is resident they can have discount on public transport.

I also experienced that disabled youngsters don’t have the opportunity to be in an employment, to get a job, although there are initiatives to evolve protected workshops.

 

Cseresznyes Emilia

AS.Casa Laura – Laura Haz

Baraolt

 

 11.April 2013  in Sofia

 
New Bulgarian University (NGO)

Development therapy centre for children with autism

 

In our travel in Bulgaria I visited an university which give place for people,who need special education further give chance for personaly and group activities.

In Bulgaria we can not find classes just forchildren who needs special education,they learn with normal kids.Every day the children can be here just in a time period,the other parts of the day they are in the schools, nursery, or at home with theire family.

For because all these teaching is working under a nongovernal institution the parents must pay. One hour group activity cost 10 leva, and one hour personal activity costs 20 leva. The number of the children changebel,but also it is low. With the children who need special educations : minor-, mental disorder-, dixlexia-, hyperactive- work 2 psychologist, 1 teacher of clinical speachand and one voluntar.

The group activity is organized 2 times a week, and every group work with just 5 children. The personaly activity is just 15 minute in a week,and every child got one educator in this time. The activity time in a month is 16 hour, and in a year this time is 6 month. A time of a therapy can be 6 month but can be many years too. The activity rooms are very small and they don’t have good equipage. Deserve attention that every week they organize a meeting where they talk about the problems which need solution. Further in every month a psychologist make test and give the new reports for each person-how to develope easier and what they need.

In Bulgaria the commun of the parents are subdivide. There are parents who can not work easily with the workers. But at the same time it is necessary that the teachers and the parents can work together because the children need that special education.

In summer time they organize camps where the teachers,children and the parents attend too. Int he camp time the parents can also learn the methodes how to develope theire children at home too.

 

Cristian Blanka

AS. Casa Laura-Laura Haz

Baraolt

 

 

 

Thursday 16 May 2013

Sofia Municipal day care center for social rehabilitation of disabled


This institution is a day center for social rehabilitation of disable whit strong disabilities.

It was founded in 1999.

The center is a new building, is almost totally funded by the state of Korea, who has undertaken the construction, furnishing and the facilities and covers their expenses. Lenders are also actively involved in the decision-making structure of the center, for example, are now deciding the final name of the structure.

This funding is continually reminded, in fact, on every piece of furniture is applied the logo of the Korean state. It's just a detail, but is representative of a very strong presence in Bulgaria by foreign lenders with a very strong decision-making role, which determines the strategies, techniques, and mode, apparently not always agreed with the Bulgarians professionals.

The center is structured to take charge of 90 children and 150 adults.

In Sofia there are 9 referral centers for people with disability. Patients come to this center, a social worker (without medical training) decide what treatments and / or actions needed by the patient and sends it in one of the day care center of Sofia.

The center we visited is divided into two main sections: a medical/physical rehabilitation and a section of a social rehabilitation.

Work in the centre 3 physiotherapists, 2 ​​psychologists, 1 kinesiotherapist, 4 rehabilitators, 1 doctor, 2 speech therapists, 2 sociale workers, 1 art therapist, 1 music and dance therapist.

All staff is qualified.

The building is divided on two floors. The medical section is located on the ground floor. The space is divided into many room adapted for physiotherapy and rehabilitation, someone very small where there is only the place for the bad, othersbiggers, where at the same time  3 or 4 patients are followed.

The medical sector is mainly devoted to physiotherapy and physical rehabilitation. The building and the equipmentsare new, but do not seem particularly innovative.

For children there is a fully equipped room, the parents may attend the meetings of the children or not. The decision must be made ​​on a case by case basis.

Patients have access to the structure for the time of therapy or activities.

Upstairs are the offices and rooms for the activities of social rehabilitation. Also in this case, users access in the structure to carry out the activities, that can be do individually or in small groups.

The activities are especially artistic type, there is a small laboratory where they are carried out small craft work (icons, paper flowers, paintings) and there is a dance workshop - the center also participates in dance festival for the disabled.

Some activities are focused on learning of some capacity such as write, count, take care of their hygiene.

One of the rooms on the upper floor is called the ‘relax-room’. It is a room where they gathered the different sources of stimulation (sounds, colors, lights, smells, materials ...) that can stimulate and relax the patient. It is a place of calm, which can be used by patients but inlyon the recommendation of the social worker of reference.

The socio-rehabilitative activities are funded in part by the state and are partly borne by the family.

Normally people come on to the structureby their own means (car, walking, by bus…), in Sofia people with disabilities have the agreements for the use of taxis and public transport, but there is also a transport service.

The day care center offers important rehabilitatives activities to developpersonal skills, but there's no path to integrate as to support the integration of disabled people in society.

The director said that there are other organization in Sofia  with the aim of help young disabled people to enter in the labour market, such as learning computer’s use, but in the center that we visited there is no action to include disable people in the life,  and even to meet  abled and disabled people.

Claudia Piovano – PROGETTI Nonprofit kft.

 

Kindergarten  N 55 “Veselina”

 

This institution is a state nursery school, attended by 300 children at age 3/7 years.

The kindergarten in Bulgaria lasts 4 years, but the last year is a pre-preparatory school for the elementary school. During this last year the children have to follow a national program, have textbooks and must achieve sufficient results in order to access the school.

The kindergarten is almost free, but parents have to pay a monthly fee for the lunch and for some extra-curricular activities.

The extra-curricular activities are many and varied (eg, gymnastics, folk dance ..), families can choose one of these activities but at least one is mandatory. The cost of the asset is borne by households. These courses are less expensive than in the private market, even if is  a not insignificant cost for families considering the average wages in Sofia.

The school is equipped with an indoor swimming pool, which benefit all children.

The children are divided into classes by age, approximately 30 children per class. Throughout the school there are a maximum of two children with disability. The proportion of children with disabilities is determined by the state for each school, analyzing each school and in relation to the capacity of host institution.

The disability of children is still not serious, because children with strong disabilities are placed in special institutions and do not always have access to the school system.

The school does not have to decide if accept  or not the disabled child should receive one sent by the social welfare system.

For children with disability are provided for specific activities, such as speech therapy, special gymnastics, psychological support, support teacher.

In the nursery works a team of 27 people, including the director, a psychologist, speech therapist, support teachers, pedagogical teachers and assistants.

In each group work two teachers, who are together during the lunch time, and work disability support teachers in collaboration with the teachers of the class.

The activities speech therapy, gymnastics etc are carried out in separate rooms.

The structure is of the seventies, is renewed, bright, classes are well organized and equipped. Each class has a separate area for sleeping. Every child has a small closet where leave his clothes when he gets to school.

Parents of younger children can enter in the structure to accompany and pick up the kids. From the second year instead of the children are left at the door and taken over by a teacher. If parents wish, they can enter to talk with teachers.

The school organizes an annual meeting with parents. For children with disability, the relationship with the psychologist and teachers is more narrow and there are many talks during the year to assess the development of the child.

In the school - as in all the schools of Sofia - this is a security guard. The school is also equipped with security cameras operate 24 hours on 24.

The nursery school is participating in a Comenius project to compare experiences and environmental education with other European schools.

 

Claudia Piovano – PROGETTI Nonprofit kft.

 
Association “Chid and Space” – Small group care home
 

Established in 2010, with the help of Médecins du Monde, Unicef, and other donations in Sofia, Bulgaria. It was the first center of its kind in Bulgaria.  Funded partly by the government of Bulgaria, which is financing each children for the room and board, but not the nurses. Other funds must be raised by the organization.

 

The national context

 
The national context until 2000s was the following: children with special needs were grown up separated from their families, often under recommendation of doctors (children’s care in Bulgaria, until their third year is a medical problem) in huge institutions, hidden from the eyes of the world, mostly forgotten by the society and even by their family. To change that situation Bulgaria had to wait until a big international scandal in the 90s, when a british journalist has made a service about these dishuman conditions, and after the things was becoming to change. Slowly, as we’ll see it. Anyway the huge institutions are existing also in our days, despite continuation of scandals.

Many children were introduced in those centers and institutionalized by carelessness of the doctors or by their misdiagnoses. Families were urged to leave their children also with minor problems or disabilities in that specific institutions, sometimes far away from their home.

Nowadays, although the legislative lacks, the policy is to close those big centers and put the children in small group care homes.  The aim is that children would get into the small group care homes directly from families, not from the big institutions. Also if they have the same problems there is a difference between children according to the origin. In “Child and Space” we knew a ten years old girl who’s been left after her birth in a big institution and left for almost the whole time in a bed with bars and fed with liquids. The result was terrifying: she was unable to sit and for any communication. Although parents have no education of that kind, but certainly they would not treat their children like that. Today the aim of the Bulgarian specialist is to work together with families. But this is only a will for the future, due to the many lacks existing in the country (laws, mentality and money problems).

The problem is that in Bulgaria the legislative deficiencies about the treatment of small children by the institutions are existing the same way today. The chaotic political situation of the country of these times has prevented a vote on a proposed new law with respect to childhood.

 

The structure and the staff

 

This institution is situated in the suburb of Sofia, in a friendly context, not far from the center of the town. The building was remodeled nicely and equipped with lift before the opening and adapted for 8 children with strong disabilities (blindness, paralysis, and so on), from 9 to 18 years old. The rooms are for two persons, and at the roof there is a large and well equipped recreation room with an own kitchen, where the staff prepares meals, involving the children.

The nurses who take care to children for 24 hours a day, are without specific profession. That is not required by the institutions, by law.

The center has a director and a psychologist and external special teachers for the education and specialist from the University for rehabilitation cares.

We found that all the staff were really kind and devoted to the children and the institution was friendly and has a family atmosphere.

 

Activities and treatments

 

The nurses are working with children following an individual program, mostly developing consciousness of their own body, their own movements, to connect their minds to the body and vice versa.

We found interesting - an example of a reverse integration -, that one of the nurses who’s working in the institution, having a 5 years old son, without any other solution keeps his son with herself during the working hours: his child has no problem with playing with the other strongly disable mates.

Children also receive an education by special teachers for Monday till Friday until 2 p.m. (they are following a special individualised program for each child, elaborated together by nurses, psychologist, teachers and other specialist) and rehabilitative cares by University specialists.

Sometimes the institution organizes a kind of small holidays sending the children in other centers.

The institution has a small garden where they can spend spare times, and often they go out to the public garden, although the sidewalks in Sofia are dangerous not only for wheelchairs but able people, too.

Due to financing problems they do not have any other possibility to leave the institution.

 

 

The future of the children

 

The children of the institution, due to their multiply disabilities, physical and mental, have few possibilities to be integrated with able children. The small group works as a kind of family. They know each other, they work together during activities for years.

Without direct experience in the past, the management and the special staff are thinking about the future of their children.  After their 18th birthday they should leave the institution. But outside they have no any possibility, given the lack of any other institution of the same kind for adults. They are not able to manage themselves, especially to find a job, to be on their own. In this case, they would need other institutions to continue to be protected and developed. The question is: if in the small group care home they felt themselves at home, with their “brothers and sisters”, why they should leave?

 

Ádám Fekete – Progetti Nonprofit Kft.

 

 

 

„ALL INCLUSIVE“ – 5 th Mobility

 

Bulgaria, Sofia office NBDN

 

ALL INCLUSIVE – report  meeting  - 13.04.2013 -   09:00 – 12:00  AM

 

Participants:


Hungary- Örökmozgó:  Erika Kolumbán, Márk Pulay

 

Italy- Arca:                   Chiara Cheloni

                                      Francesca Landini

 

Italy- Pegaso:                 Giancluca Raimondo

                                        

 

Romania - Laura Ház:         

                                      Emilia Cseresznyés  

                                      Éva Demeter

                            

 
Germany – Fostschritt: Maria Papp

 

Hungary- Progetti:       Claudia Piovano


On 13th April  2013 in the period 9.00-12.00 AM final meeting of the partners under ALL INCLUSIVE” project was held in NBDN office. The questions under discussion were concerning the forthcoming reporting and task distribution among the participants. The discussion started with the results at project end and the opportunity to apply vocational training  in the context of labor market requirements.

20th April 2013 was set as deadline for the NBDN team to decide whether it would be able to:

·        collect, generalize and prepare informational materials to be printed inclusive of pictures, text, drawings and tables;

·        select lowest price offer for printing of 350 items of brochures, booklets; publications consisting of about 10 pages ( 50 items per each organization ).

Generalization will include:

·        presentation of current situation in the different countries – text and pictures;

·         description of services provided by professions under discussion in the different countries;

·        legal framework of professions execution.

All participants decided to prepare such reports consisting of up to one page.

The discussion focused on the following two topics:

1.     What did the project complete and our work connected to it?

2.     What do we think about integration?

The answers to those questions will be developed in up to ten pages including information about what we have seen in the different countries, in what way specific services have contributed to society; what conclusions we have made concerning the monitoring and offers after monitoring analysis.

Erika Kolumbán, Márk Pulay from Hungary- Örökmozgó will prepare a map of social competences/ social profile of professions monitored in Romania and Germany. The partners asked Haralan Alexandrov and Anet Marinova from the Bulgarian team to prepare a “Conclusion” about the monitoring visits from their professional university point of view.

Claudia Piovano concluded the most significant moments of the forthcoming activities:

1.     research;

2.     team reports;

3.     final report of all teams.

In connection to report preparation for the EU and Italian colleagues Arca and Pegaso suggestion in this sense all informational boards, lists and reports of all participating countries will be collected. Erika Kolumbán proposed that if the Italian colleagues collect the data it will not be necessary every team to do it itself. Every team will prepare their materials and the Italian organizations will summarize the information.

A question to the NBDN was asked if we would be able to prepare copies of the final report and CDs.

Claudia Piovano offered that every team would issue a signed and sealed Certificate including all participants, i.e. one Certificate pointing all participants which will be sent to all partnering organizations. Deadline for this activity will be two weeks.

The final meeting of ALL INCLUSIVE project held on 13th April 2013 ended after conclusion of the above aspects.