By Sarah Gale and Doinita-Elena Losetchi | Project Leader and Project Director
Your generosity has allowed our lead therapist, Ana Câslaru, to start her studies to develop her skills in working with autistic children. A particular focus of her studies has been early intervention with young children aged between 12 and 48 months. We all know how vital these early years are for child development. It is distressing for parents to see their child lagging behind their peers, or even seeming to go backwards in their development. Providing early support can make a great difference to an autistic child's communication skills, their behaviour and relationships in the family. It is encouraging that more families are coming to us with their concerns at this early stage, and we are happy to feel better equipped to help them now.
The method that Ana has been using teaches through play in a natural environment. She has made a gentle start, offering therapy three times a week to two children. We have been very pleased by their learning. Ana has used activities she has learned on her course to work with them on using simple words, making eye contact, and joining in group activities. She has seen a significant improvement in all these areas. She has learned the importance of continuously monitoring the children's progress and adapting their plans as they learn. This makes sure that our therapy sessions are completely personalised and aimed at meeting the specific needs of each child. You can see a couple of short videos from Ana's sessions in the links below.
Ana has also been involving the parents in the therapy, since it is most effective if parents also use the approach at home. She has learned that motivating parents is easier if they are involved from the beginning. Those who are engaged are very positive about the benefits that the therapy has brought their children.
This positive start makes us keen to offer this service to more children. With this aim in mind, Ana is passing on the skills that she has learned on her course to our other staff. We are excited to have this opportunity to keep learning and improving our services, and are very grateful to you who have helped us get this far. If you are able to support Ana's ongoing studies, that would be fantastic!
Links:
By Ana Gorea and Sarah Gale | Charity President and Communications lead
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