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Olga Stuzhinskaya, Director of the Office for a Democratic Belarus |
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Tatsiana Golubovich (on the right), author of the Good Jam for Good People project |
Such classes are officially dubbed integrative as this the form of teaching used. Together with ordinary students, the school also teaches children with autism accompanied by tutors, psychologists and parents.
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Sofia Sadovskaya, artist |
First such class was created in Minsk last year in the secondary general education school No.5. In the current academic year Minsk already has 5 such classes. The primary goal the parents initially pursued was to organize and “adapt” learning environment to the needs of autistic children.
Tatsiana Golubovich says that it had been very challenging for students with autism to stay in school for long periods of time before these special classes were organized:
"Every autistic child has severe sensory problems: they cannot stay in a large group of children for a long time, they move around a lot and they need to be constantly accompanied by a tutor. To them, the tutor is both an interpreter and their link to their surroundings who allows them to understand what is happening around them”.
Since early development is a determining factor for future social inclusion of people with autism, special methods used in primary school can be very effective.
In addition to special teaching methods, coaching psychologists encourage organizing creative activities for autistic children. The workshops held in Minsk with support ODB was one of such events.
See Photos.
Read more: Inclusive Education: Creative Workshop for Children with Autism