пятница, 17 мая 2019 year

Feldman Ecopark Centre for Psychosocial Rehabilitation Gives Integrated Lessons for Children with Visual Impairments

The junior school students from the V.H. Korolenko Special Educational Complex visited the Social and Humanitarian Multi-Complex on May 15, where the complex sensory integration lessons were arranged for them.

In Feldman Ecopark, the school students met with the old friends – retrievers, which they undergo the animal-assisted therapy course with for the second year running. In the company of the four-legged assistants, the children got acquainted with the animal collection of the Multi-Complex: feline predators, bears, exotic birds and other animals. The lessons have been also given in the interactive yard and at the Horse Complex.

According to the head of the psychological service of Feldman Ecopark Centre for Psychosocial Rehabilitation Tetiana Aliieva, the programme for children with visual impairments was launched two years ago.

“This programme of sensory integration of children with visual impairments is aimed at teaching a child to interact with the world. At the first stage of canis therapy, children got acquainted with the four-legged therapists, learnt to overcome their fears by contacting with the animal world. This year, we decided to move to the next stage – sensory integration, acquaintance with the other representatives of the nature. During the excursion, children used sounds, smells and other information to learn the new species of fauna and learnt which of them they may contact and which are dangerous. The lesson continued in the interactive yard, where the sensory integration took place, as well as the acquaintance with sizes, forms of different animals and their differentiation.”

The finishing part was the visit to the Horse Complex, where the kids were able to ride the specially trained ponies.

According to Tetiana Aliieva, the eco-therapeutic session was arranged open-air, where the background noise and additional sound stimuli are present, while children may be watchful to them. However, the availability of known animals made it possible for the children to feel themselves calm and relaxed.

“Exactly this is the main goal of sensory integration, when a child, with the help of a comfortable animal (a dog, in this case) becomes acquainted with the surrounding world. Later, he or she learns to use this skill, when contacting some other animals. This is the way to overcome the fear, to become more self-confident, which is very important in the rehabilitation of special children,” the psychologist emphasized.

Tetiana Aliieva noted that educators give positive comments on the results of canis therapy, so the work with the children from the Special Educational Complex will continue.