Parents of Ukraine: Early Childhood Intervention – prevention of disablement in the future

February 18, 2017.

    On Friday, 17 February, All-Ukrainian Parents Forum for Early Intervention (AUPFEI) was held in Kyiv within EU-funded project "Strengthening the capacity of parent-led civil society organisations (CSOs) to support the delivery of reforms that address the rights and needs of young children with disabilities and special needs (CWDs) in Ukraine". The project is implemented by the International NGO HealthProm (London), National Assembly of people with disabilities of Ukraine (NADU) and Charity Fund "Early Intervention Institute " (CFEII, Kharkiv).
    
    This forum is established as a basement for NGO’s engagement in development of the state policy on early intervention. It brought together parents of children with special needs and children with disabilities (CWDs), as well as NGO representatives to protect the CWDs rights. It is of the outmost importance that parents of children with special needs play a key role in delivering reforms to enable their children have the best start in life. The programme “Parents for Early Intervention in Ukraine” is implemented in Kyiv and the regions of Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zakarpattia, Zaporizhia, Luhansk, Lviv, Odesa, and Kharkiv.
    
    "Early intervention is a good start for the future of children with special needs and their families. It will serve them a basis for successes in the future!" said Armorer Wason, programme manager, HealthProm (London).
    
    "I advocate the idea of early intervention in Ukraine. I have learnt from my experience that support to children with special needs and their families helps avoid difficulties in their development in the future," said Olena Skrypko, mother of two and coordinator of the programme "Parents for Early Intervention in Ukraine". One of her son suffers deafness and autism: “The sooner we help a child with special needs, the better chances in life this child will get.”
    
    "We are here to discuss the European and Ukrainian experience of assistance to families with children with special needs at their early age," - said Sergey Polyuk, sector manager, Welfare and health Care Sectors of the EU Delegation to Ukraine: "The EU promotes active inclusion and participation of people with special needs in the society. This is the EU human rights approach to disability issues. Disability is a human rights issue and not a matter of discretion. This is achieved through various measures, including early intervention, early start of adequate rehabilitation services, needs assessment services, full economic and social participation of people with special needs."
    
    For more detailed information please contact: Oleg Trachuk, rvu.parents@gmail.com,
    tel 050 328 57 87
    
    Background information: Eurlyaid – The European Association on Early Childhood Intervention (EAECI): “Early intervention is the internationally endorsed approach, demonstrated to be effective and cost-efficient, that maximises children’s chances of reaching their potential. It is an essential component in preventing child abandonment/placement in institutions and reduces the likelihood of poor long-term outcomes for children and their families. It involves taking action when concerns about a child’s development or disability are first expressed, at an age when children’s brains are still developing. It is a social model that addresses the needs of both child and parents, drawing on and strengthening the capacity of the family, and working in partnership with parents. Thus this is a departure from the out-dated and narrow medical, model which does not engage the child’s parents, nor link with social and education providers, and the wider community”.