Emotional Contact, Trust, Balance in the Exchange of Information Helps in Communicating with Non-verbal Children

On June 30, within the framework of the project "Realization of rights through communication", the project team experts Tatyana Sinitsa and Svetlana Pupa visited Gorodische house-boarding institution. They talked with children and held consultations and trainings with the employees.
In this house-boarding institution 25% of children cannot use speech to communicate. This limits them greatly in their ability to express their opinions and communicate. With the help of educators and professionals who have mastered the skills of implementing AAC, these children have got more opportunities to be brighter, feel calmer and more confident and be noticed by adults without screaming, crying and stamping their feet.
In order to create a favorable communication environment in the residential house-boarding institution, some employees who were not at all involved in the project participated and could get and expand their knowledge of communication with children with special needs, thanks to the guests - Natalya Matusevich, a representative of “ Inclusive House initiative” and her daughter Veronika. They have their own way of mutual understanding and they shared it with the staff. A good example of using AAC is always inspiring.
Tatyana Sinitsa in her block of training "The main issues of inclusion and development of AAC in a residential house-boarding institution" emphasized how important it is to be aware of and manage interpersonal and professional attitudes, stereotypes of children's perception, be able to use techniques for establishing emotional contact and ways to activate the child's mental activity for development purposes in the process of communication.
The work on the use of AAC in the life of children in such institutions is painstaking, when one understands that the result of this work is children who have an improved quality of life and of course specialists and workers who are satisfied with their work. It means that the children of such institutions have become closer to the society, more understandable and open.