Our Project staff, of only women, provide orientation and education to 100 Dominican families with children and adolescents living with disabilities, through modelling and teaching, during weekly home visits and 2 weekly half-day group sessions for adolescents, to enhance their social and emotional development, independence skills and inclusion. The whole family will experience a better quality of life.
Of the more than 30,000 children living with disabilities in Santiago, the poorer parents often do not know where to go to get affordable help. The Institutional Rehabilitation Services cost money, time and give transportation complications. Our Foundation provides the rehabilitation services right at their homes. Adolescents with disabilities have no possibilities to go to school, the foundation will provide group sessions in their neighborhood, to help them develop their skills.
During the home visits the rehabilitation worker orients the parents (mostly mothers) about the disability and provides an individualized stimulation program by teaching a skill the child is ready to learn, while the mother repeats the activity daily, thus being empowered to be the real agent of change of their child. During the group sessions the adolescents are trained in independence, social and emotional skills and also enjoying inter-group activities as outings, movies, dramas, talent shows
100 children and adolescents will be more independent, included in family and community life, some will be able to go to school, become gainfully employed and even have their own family. Together with their families they will enjoy a higher quality of life and will be less dependent on others for their future care. Community members will understand how to help persons with a disability, defending the rights of women and how to ensure inclusion for both in a still very macho Dominican Society.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
