Day Care Center for Rehabilitation of Children and Youth Mali dom – Zagreb Croatia Access to Appropriate Programs for Children with Multiple Disabilities and Visual Impairment and Deaf Blind Children in Croatia

Children with Multiple Disabilities and Visual Impairment in Croatia Prevalence of children with disabilities (up to 14 years) Multiple disabilities : Multiple disabilities and visual impairment - estimated number 2402 Deafblindness -estimated number -175 /250 Timely detection Undue referall

Support for Children with Multiple Disabilities and Visual Impairment Early Intervention Programs School programs Special Mainstream Day Care Centres /educational and habilitational programs/ Institutions /rehabilitational programs/ Mali dom- Zagreb : specialized programs for MDVI children

Deafblindness recognized in our legal system, but still there are problems in the identification, diagnosis and classification of deafblind people Educational and rehabilitational programs for DB children: Schools (special and mainstream schools) – with no or mild additional disabilities Mali dom- Zagreb –with additional disabilities Dodir – focused mostly on adults

Mali dom - Zagreb Inter/transdisciplinary assessment Early intervention Educational/Rehabilitat ional program Networking with organizations and professionals nationally and internationally Resource center

History Started as NGO working with MDVI children 18 years ago Perkins School for the Blind – from 1997 with first ELP student, until today constant support in developing appropriate programs CBM Germany 2001 program officially recognized as spealized program for MDVI children from the Ministry of Social Welfare NGO transformed into public institution Mali dom- Zagreb founded by City of Zagreb Up to now more than 1320 children with multiple impairments and their families have been supported by our program

Inter/transdisciplinary assessment GMFM – functional motor assessment Educational rehabilitation assessment Functional vision assessment General movement /developmental assessment birth to 3 month/ Speech and communication aassessment Sensory integration assessment Occupational therapy assessment Psychological assessment

Assessment Inter/Transdisciplinary Spec.Ed.Teachers Physiotherapist Speech therapist Occupational therapist Pychologist SIAT therapist Overall Basis for the creation of optimal individual educational plan

Early Intervention Rehabilitation programs from birth to the age of 3 years Home visits and centre based Creating Individual educational plan and the individual family support/service plan (IFSP) and family map Additional programs: Experience groups Halliwick swimming Parents support group

Day Care Center Mali dom runs its program through the everyday activities After assessment, observation and consulting with parents, IEP – individual education plan is created for every and each child Number of children in the group:6 – 8 In each group there are individual and group activities conducts in accordance with goals set in IEP of every child

Educational activities Daily living activities Domestic activities Social/Cultural/ Leisure activities

Communication Basis and integral part of our curriculum Embedded in all activities and used across all curriculum areas Multimodal communication approach Assessment of child’s communication level Communication system matching child’s communication level

Specific habilitation services Therapy dog Kinesitherapy Assistive tecnologySensory integration Snoezeln Swimming Low vision devicesOrientation and mobilityVisual stimulations

Creative therapeutic activities Music therapy Movement and dance therapy Art therapy -

Community Outings Through workshops with children from regular schools Through public actions Through art projects and exhibitions

Family Support Active participants in the process Partners – included in developing of individual education plan setting goals and achieveing them Individual and group support Family gatherings

Resource Centre and Networking providing support for schools and other service providers in developing appropriate Early intervention program and educational program for MDVI/DB children Organizing seminars, in-service trainings, exchange visits on a national level And on a regional level through Perkins International in: Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chezk Republic, Romania, Armenia, Greece, Serbia Cooperation on various projects with Universities, hospitals, schools, UNICEF, etc

Strengthening Programs for Children with MDVI in Croatia WEAKNESSES: Poor interagency coordination between health, social welfare and educational systems Lack of transition planning

Strengthening Programs for Children with MDVI/DB in Croatia Positive changes: Public Awareness Networking between professionals and organizations from different fields Legal framework: Master plan of deinstutialization Access to appropriate education Ecological vs. Medical approach