The group lessons for children with communication difficulties take place in the special room of the Centre of Psychosocial Rehabilitation of the Feldman Ecopark. The invariable element of lessons is the animal-assisted therapy, including canine therapy, during which the specially trained therapy animals help children to overcome their problems and acquire new communication skills.
The head of the medical service of the Centre of Psychosocial Rehabilitation of the Feldman Ecopark, the Candidate of Medicine Inna Vashkite informed that the advisory room was opened a year ago. During this time, the special animals with all necessary character traits, which underwent the special training, were selected. Moreover, the first group of children was formed.
“Today, the lesson was devoted to communication and to the first meeting of children. Each next topic will be devoted to the development of different communication skills stipulating trust, mutual understanding, mutual respect, and ability to listen to the interlocutor. At the present time, in the age of technological progress, the problem of communication is topical for the children of any age. With the huge number of gadgets and with the swift development of international technologies, it is very difficult to get children involved in communication with each other. It is the first pilot group now. We are planning to open the groups for children with different problems: autistic disorders, delays in speech development, in order to provide them with the skills they need, of course, using one or another type of animal-assisted therapy,” Inna Vashkite says. According to her, with the increase of the number of groups, the number of lessons in the room will also increase to 4-5 per week.
A Happy Child training course is intended for children aged 7-11. The lessons will be given once a week from September 28 to December 2. The main form of work is a gaming interaction. The topic include the effective communication, the development of confidence, the understanding of themselves and the others, the overcoming of fears, the goal-setting and its achievement. The forms of work during the lessons are interesting and diverse: cheerful and serious psychological games, role playing, substantial talks, discussions, painting, collage making. At the same time, the animals from the Feldman Ecopark will take part in the lessons.
According to the head of the psychological service of the Centre of Psychosocial Rehabilitation of the Feldman Ecopark Tetiana Aliieva, the lessons are also aimed at the overcoming of school maladjustment of children.
“Our task is to help children to adapt in the process of school education as easy as possible. We solve this problem with the help of the most various means, which are close to children. Of course, the presence of animals – animal-assisted therapy and canine therapy – helps children to forget for some time, and later to substitute the time spent in front of a computer screen for the communication with animals. Different animals take part in our project. We invited not just a common dog for the first meeting, but a therapy animal that takes part in various projects. It has a very stable character, and it is very friendly to children. The other animals will also be invited later. They will help to conduct lessons in more comfortable and cheerful atmosphere,” Tetiana Aliieva noted.
