About
"The Centre of Handicapped Pedagogy and Social Therapy "SVeCha"
(The Candle).
("SVeCha"
stands for "with Faith in Human” in Russian)
Under Rostov Regional
Non-governmental Organisation "A
Way to Yourself”
It started in autumn 1996. A group of
enthusiastic pedagogues and physicians began to work with a handicapped child,
at his place.
According to our European colleagues, it is a
usual beginning of most curative pedagogical initiatives in the world. And we
ventured to try it.
When there were more children in our group we
became able to rent a room (within kindergarten premises) where we continued
our work. Then we moved to the gym of Rostov Dolphinarium.
In autumn 1999 we went on working in basement
of a private Economics
College. About three
years later we managed to legalize our position. Due to enthusiasm of
pedagogues and children’s parents we managed not only overcome everyday
difficulties but also continue further training of the teachers. Their
knowledge and skills gave impulse to children’s development. The parents
noticed that and agreed to follow the teachers’ recommendations at home, which
were successfully integrated into their everyday life at home. Besides, most of
our children changed to taking only homeopathic treatment from "Veleda” and
"Vala”.
During seven years Flor de Kosta, specialist in the sphere of therapeutic pedagogy and
therapeutic eurhythmy, form Holland,
would come to us, give seminars and consult our children. Besides, many
specialists from different countries came to us: Dr. Rudolph Nast form Stuttgart, Ingelora Darmer and Frank Heine from Weckelweiler, Monika Gold from Canada, Katrin
and Rudolph Shtuder-Zent from Switzerland,
Ingrid Selhof from Sweden.
Everyone tried to help us in education and consulting retarded children.   
  
Surely we wouldn’t survive but for active participating
of the children’ parents in our centre’s life, as well as for support of some
Russian people. During half of the year one child’s family rented a house for
working with children, parents helped with transport to get children to riding
therapy, besides, these people were searching for sponsors to pay for
additional classes with children.
By that time our western colleagues had reasons
to trust our activity and possibility to develop and they started to look for
investments for buying our own house. It was Flor de Kosta who initiated and managed it. And eventually we
bought a house near Botanic Garden (in Nekrasovskaya St.
68). We think that location in a green zone is more appropriate for our
children.
By now about four thousand families had come to
us to consult or to get therapy. All our children have disability and various
diagnoses: children autism of different forms and levels, epilepsy, organic
lesion of CNS, mental malfunction of different degrees of manifestation, with
psychomotor problems, obsessions and etc. At medical-pedagogical committees
this children were diagnosed as "unable to learn” which caused that
kindergarten and schools refused to accept them. Before getting to "Svetcha”
most of them were staying at home with mothers and the first demand war
socialization, developing skills of self-help service, speech capability,
creating for children supporting warm atmosphere and expertise in work with
them.
Some children have been attending classes in
"Svetcha” for more than 14 years, hence they are already adults, and we started
activity for organizing social communities following the model of "camphill”
settlements. Partly for this purpose, we organized Saturday’s parents club,
which takes place 1-2 times a month. There we tell parents about this movement,
what forms it has in different countries, what peculiarities we have here in Russia,
and certainly we discuss children – what, why, how.  
To adapt these children for real life we start
to develop their practical skills from the very beginning. We move from simple
things like wax modeling, felting, all sorts of weaving. Then we start making
candles, embroidery, sewing, basic woodworking. This summer we prepared the
premise for carpenters’ workshop, we are acquiring equipment and have already started
to work with children.
Besides, we are consulting families with kids
who have special needs not only from Rostow region but from other regions (e.g.
Krasnodar, Nasran, Makhachkala). That’s why in 2008 a curative pedagogical
and social therapeutic seminar has started in Rostov-on-Don that is a branch of
St. Petersburg Institute of Curative Pedagogical and Social Therapy. To make
this initiative popular there was a so called "Pro-Seminar” during 4 years in
the club "Svetcha”.
Now it is obvious that due to long-term and
systematic work, complex influence on a child, together with the parents’
cooperation, we get positive results.
Children are getting more emotionally stable,
acquiring practical and self-service skills, valuable experience in communication
with different people. They learn to be patient, tolerant, to love, to interact and cooperate with each other. Some
non-speaking children began to speak, others – to communicate with the help of
simple phrases, most develop ability to say "I” instead speaking about
themselves as a third person. Some of pupils started to write, to count within
a hundred, make simple arithmetic (adding and taking away within ten).
Most parents mention that the children have
become more concentrated, more conscious, more confident, more willing to go to
the classes to "Svetcha”.
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