Polish Experience with „learn rehabilitation methodic”

1. Polish Experience with „learn rehabilitation methodic” Partner Meeting Krakow 7-10th of May 2008

2. Parents and Children with Special Needs in the Context of National Minority or Immigration Trainer: Beata Helizanowicz Time: 5 days (50 hours)

3. Target group • Parents – mothers or fathers • with special needs children (health, mental, behaviour problems) • foreigners – immigrants or members of national minorities (Ukrainian, Romans, Byelorussians)

4. Target group – the piloting group: • 8 mothers, • with 8 children: 2 of them have mental disabilities, 3 - have ADHD diagnosis, 3 - have behaviour problems, • 4 mothers was Ukrainian; 4 was Roman.

5. Description of the problem of the target group: • very often they have to stay home and take all-day care about their child; • they are not able to take care about their own development and learning (LLL); • they have no contact with other people living with the same problem; • very rarely they have contact with specialists; • very often they are helpless: they have no knowledge about needs of children and educational methods to work with them; • they have a problem with organization of own time and time of work; • they have many emotional problems.

6. What were our aims? • Supporting of social integration. • Development of cultural and intercultural conscious. • Training and development of the life skills • Development of knowledge • Development of family and education skills • Learning to learn • Development of social and civic competences • Development of sense of initiative

7. What have we done?The schedule of workshop: • 14.03.2008: • Welcoming, initiation of project, introducing of trainer. • Introducing of participants – talking in pairs; introducing of interlocutor. • Expectations of participants – group work; exchanging of information. • Troubles and problems of parents connected with special needs children – exchanging of parents experiences – talking in groups, presentation of effects. • Stress – definition, signals, treatment – lecture. • How to fight with stress? - exercises. • Child difficulties – opportunity or treatment for parents? My ways to win difficulties – individual and group work. • Who am I? My achievements, my dreams, my plans for future – individual drawing. • Interpersonal communication – rules, correctness, blockades – lecture. • Training of effective communication.

8. What have we done?The schedule of workshop: 28.03.2008 • The family as a system – cycle of family life, family life phases; development of a child – lecture. • Special needs children problems (ADHD, mental or physical disease, behavioural problems) – exchanging of experiences. • Educational training for parents (part one): • setting the bounds for the children, • recognition of needs and emotions of the children, • helping child in expression of the needs and emotions,

9. What have we done?The schedule of workshop: • 29.03.2008: • Educational training for parents (part two): • a. how to learn cooperating, • b. punishment in education – yes or not? • c. the effective communication between the members of family – the ways of solving conflicts, • stimulation of self-dependence of the child.

10. What have we done?The scedule of workshop: • 11.04.2008: • Educational training for parents (part three): • helping child to get out of “role”, • how to praise children. • Assertiveness training for parents. • What kind of needs have parents as people? – group work. • LLL – presentation of idea and practice. • The ways of auto-presentation – exercises.

11. What have we done?The schedule of workshop: • 12.04.2008: • Cultural differences – SWOT analyze; group work and discussion. • How to solve practical problems? How to prevent conflicts? – group works. • Presentation of cultural richness of participants. • Recapitulation and evaluation of workshop.

12. Training methods: • appealing to self – experience of participants of training, • building on present skills, • consolidation of self – strength, • using the local possibilities, • active participation in training, • exchange of opinions and experiences, • individual counselling, • cooperation, • using the multimedia presentation, • using the dictaphone to analyse talking parents with children and auto presentation.

13. Evaluation – methods • We made a monitoring of process during the workshop – with supervising of the team; • Participants of workshop gave us their feedback during the workshop and on the end of training (recorded on dictaphone); • Participants made a questionnaire on the end of training.

14. Results - Training and development of the life skills Participants as the most important skills mentioned: • methods of solving conflicts, • development of positive self - thinking, • the ways of fighting with stress, • the ways of auto – presentation, • the ways of time – organization,

15. Results - Development of knowledge Participants as the most important subjects mentioned: • family relations – circle of family life, • development of a child, • the special needs of a child, • the effective methods of education.

16. Results - Family and education skills: Participants as the most important skills mentioned: • recognition of needs and emotions of the family members, • helping child in expression of the needs and emotions, • the effective communication between the members of family, • setting the bounds for the children, • positive thinking about family, children, possibilities of development of the family members.

17. Results -Training methods: Participants as the most helping methods mentioned: • appealing to self – experience of participants of training, • active participation in training, • exchange of opinions and experiences, • counselling, • cooperation, • using the multimedia presentation, • using the dictaphone to analyse talking parents with children and auto - presentation.

18. Conclusions: • Workshop should be longer. • Participants would like to continue the group work; they decided to meet every month in supporting group. • There were the necessity of division of group along with child problems and working more. • Trainer should better know cultural and social life context of participants.

19. Trainer qualification - knowledge • Psychology of child development; • Children disabilities; • Psychology of communication; • Ways of solving educational problems; • Group process; • Language of participants;

20. Trainer qualification - knowledge • Cultural and social life context of participants; • LLL principles; • Ways of adult education; • Principles of life skills training.

21. Trainer qualification -skills • Taking contact with group; • Individual therapeutic talking; • Working on group process; • Effective communication; • Empathy;

22. Trainer qualification -skills • Sense of humour; • Assertiveness; • Experience in working with foreigners; • Openness for difference.