Child Protection Russia Project #16635

Help to100 most disadvantaged orphans (disability)

by Diema's Dream Fund (Russia)

Help to100 most disadvantaged orphans (disability)

Project Report | May 6, 2014
Together with YOU we helped!

By Debra Cockrell, Elena V, Anastasia S. | Director

Social adaptation and rehabilitation for children with mental and physical disability.

Dear friends!

We are grateful for your support of our project on Global Giving! By your generosity, we raised $10,821 from 76 donors. Now, these "hopeless" children with severe and multiple disabilities developmental needs have a strong support group! Your help improved the quality of life for these children!

April results
During April 2014, five specialists continued their daily educational sessions on social adaptation and rehabilitation for 18 children in Orphanage for mentally retarded children in the Ryazan region. The specialists conducted 324 individual and 20 group sessions . This was made possible thanks to your support! With your support we also provide 2 dog-therapy sessions for children with disability in Moscow Orphanage and doctor’s visit for diagnostic.

Successful Experience in Orphanage
Children from Orphanage proved that – children with disability can develop and learn!

Thanks to the rich and unique experience provided by our experts, the children have learned a lot and proved they can achieve life skill milestones and break the stereotypes.

Thanks to this project, children began

Eventually, some children learned self-help skills to wash and dress theirselves and comb their hair.
Others learned how to chew their food before swallowing and learned to drink.
Some learned how to independently walk, others with some support.
They began to sit, roll over and crawl.
They were taught how to distinguish colors and count.
They were able to engage in activities like puzzles, stringing beads and coloring.
They went out of their chambers and saw the world.
They began to communicate with each other and with adults. By changing their environment and social interaction, their emotional state improved. For many children the basic skills that seemed unattainable previously, now became possible because they were given an opportunity to learn and grow!

Success stories of individual children

Aloysha (not real name) has made remarkable progress. Aloysha will soon be 14 years old and has Down syndrome with muscular dystonia symptom complicated by concomitant diagnoses. A couple of years ago Aloysha sat propped up with pillows and he could not move. His teacher starting to engage with Aloysha by just simply holding him and was not expecting much from this child. But gradually things began to change. During the past six months, he has learned to crawl and makes progress every day, but he still needs the support of an adult. Now Alyosha can get up on all fours and crawl without someone’s help! Not so long ago, Aloysha could not even feel his feet, let alone moving on his own! Rejoicing in this success, Aloysha has achieved other milestones: he has learned to hold a cup with both hands and can drink by himself . This is a significant achievement in his development because the doctors said he was "nonteachable" and "doomed to immobility”.

A joyful surprise was the success of Paulina (not real name). She is 5 years old and has Down syndrome, profound developmental delay and other complications. At first Pauline was very reluctant but she became more confident as the lessons went along. She would take her teacher’s hand to help her up so she could stand by herself and she began to reach for toys to play with them. Her teacher was planning to began to work with her on her chewing reflex and to teach her to eat by herself. When suddendly, Pauline took a spoon and began to eat, not even waiting for her teacher to show her the skill! She is a very independent little girl with an intellect that will move her progress forward rapidly.

You even can't imagine how big changes we can make in their lives! Let's look together! Let's realize the dream!

Attachments:

Overview of Charity Help project of Diema's Dream (PDF)

7 Attachments

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Mar 28, 2014
SunnyDogs provide rehabilitation to orphans withCP

By Elena Volodina | Director of the Diema's Dream Fund (Russia)

Dear Supporters !

We are grateful for your donations in helping the most "hopeless" children have such a supportive group!

Due to your generosity in the Open Challenge in March 2014, the funds raised allowed us increase the project from 1 month to 2 months of rehabilitation and educational activities for children with the most severe psychophysical development . We are supported by more than 68 donors! This gives us confidence that the children will pass the diagnostics, rehabilitation and develop their life skills! By reaching these goals, it will improve their quality of life!

Our 100 children have 68 benefactors!

Due to the funds raised, in March we held a Dog-therapy session in Orphanage # 8 in Moscow and in Elat’ma Orphanage (320km. far in the Village), 5 additional teachers conducted daily educational sessions for 18 children.

How does Dog-therapy help children with disabilities?

As a result of Dog-therapy, the children with severe developmental disabilities have: - Improved coordination - Decreased spasticity - Improved memory - Become more independent and self-reliant Dog-therapy takes advantage of the physiology, psychology and communication with other people and the world.

How can dogs be therapists?

Initially, if a child is afraid of the dog, the dog will simply show it’s friendliness from afar: wagging their tails, turning in circles or with bells on their collars walking around the room arousing children's interest. At the same time, the dog does not come close to the child without a team nor make any sounds. The main thing is that during the classes, the dogs give the children a constant feeling of happiness and a whole new world friendly. Even the closed hearted melts at the sight of a furry creature, struggling to express boundless joy and tenderness.

Dog-therapy (Canis-Therapy) History

Since the middle of the 20th century, it has been observed that the striking influence that dogs therapists have on children with cerebral palsy, autism, mental retardation , Downs syndrome, epilepsy and other serious diseases. The concept of Canine therapy was introduced in 1961 by American psychotherapist Boris Levinson. He first noticed that patients reactions were improved when his golden retriever sat in the during his office sessions.

Special breed of dog

Golden retrievers are a special breed! Due to their calm nature, they are the perfect temperament to help people who are limited in their physical and mental capabilities. In some hospitals abroad, specially trained dogs are even allowed in the intensive care unit for patients who are in a coma. The contact with the dog has beneficial results.

Sunny Dogs

Tatiana Lyubimova, director of Sunny Dogs, says: " No matter how complex his diagnosis is or how profound his mental retardation is, as soon as a child picks up the leash, he feels like a person - so he walks the dog and then begins to perceive himself. A dog accepts a person as he is. This is the main factor of Canis therapy. "

What was the result of the therapy session?

At the March session, the dogs pranced around, walked backwards, stood on their hind legs and played catch with the toys - the children were ecstatic and they loved playing with the dogs! Then 15 children had individual lessons learning how to use the toys to get the dogs to do tricks. Many of the children had never been with dogs before and for them it was a novelty. But the reactions of almost all the children were the same - curiosity and enthusiasm. During the sessions, it was noted that the children become very calm. Each child has his own ways of understanding the world and they display their emotions in different ways. One child just laid down next to the dogs, another touched their face or tail and another stroked the dog’s fur. Dogs give children unconditional love and warmth and the children genuinely feel it.

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