Because there are 1001 ways to support the disability sector in Kenya I am going to post a request for books! Oh those funny old fashioned things. Remember them? Paper, words, sometimes illustrations. I have often dreamed of a month on an island with nothing but a box of good books and a small wooden shack down the beach that sells meals consisting mainly of fresh fish and coconut. A month in a bikini, hat and sun glasses reading books. Delightful.
Anyway these are resource books.. email trixiepujol@msn.com if you are interested in buying books!
NAME OF PROJECT
Improving the Services for Special Education and Rehabilitation in Kenya: Provision of Educational
Resource Materials.
2.0 PROJECT SUMMARY
The ultimate goal of this project is to improve the services for special education and rehabilitation by equipping professionals with resources required to reinforce quality intervention outcomes.
To achieve this goal we will need to establish a resource centre with up-to-date materials including books, magazines, and multimedia materials.
In the current situation, professionals, caregivers and parents lack information, and funds required to equip themselves with resources that improve their skills and abilities. SEP is also currently limited on the available resources at its disposal. There is an urgent need to equip our minimal library with relevant up-to-date materials, which will help develop knowledge and proper skills necessary in working with children with special needs. It will also help to empower parents and guardians on how to get involved with intervention while the children are at home.
3.0 INFORMATION ON THE ORGANISATION
Special Education Professionals (SEP) is a registered non-profitable organisation in Kenya. The members, consisting of Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech and Language therapists, Teachers of Special Education Needs, Teachers of the Deaf, Low-Vision Therapists and Psychologists, are all volunteers who dedicate their free time and expertise to the Kenyan community. SEP operates mainly in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, but also provides assistance to some projects located in other parts of Kenya. The SEP office is located in Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital, Muthaiga.
SEP’s Mission Statement
SEP’s mission is to develop a multidisciplinary approach among the professionals working with children with special needs by upgrading the professional skills, standards and knowledge. By doing this SEP will be able to provide quality interventions to more children with special needs and empower their families by including them in the intervention programmes, throughout the country.
SEP started in 1990 and initially operated as a support group for professionals in the field of special education and rehabilitation. These professionals were mainly active in private schools that are frequented by children with more affluent parents who can afford the higher school fees and extra tuition.
In 1998 SEP started ‘community work’ whereby all members volunteered their services and expertise to also help the children belonging to the lower income sections of the society. To date the professionals have created time for the SEP consultations, workshops and project work to help children with special needs including cerebral palsy, autism, Down’s syndrome, learning difficulties, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, mental challenges, developmental delay, communication disorder, hearing impairment, visual impairment amongst other conditions.
SEP has so far assisted 1350 families from different locations in Kenya during the consultations, and over 1000 children in various schools, homes and centres.
So far there have been over 100 workshops facilitated by SEP, which have been attended by approximately 20 parents, caregivers and teachers per workshop.
SEP works closely together with the families, caregivers and teachers as they are the key stakeholders in the education and rehabilitation of the child. Often families and teachers do not have sufficient understanding about special needs. Hence, they are not capable of offering the basic intervention needed to create a better life for their children. SEP believes that training and support empowers the parents, caregivers and teachers to create a positive environment. Capacity building with the families and all stakeholders involved in the upbringing of a child enables the child to maximize his/her potential in all areas of development.
It is a SEP policy to give peer support. SEP encourages sharing knowledge and skills, ideas and techniques amongst all professionals involved.
Activities of the Organisation since 1998
- Training
SEP believes in developing and strengthening the skills, abilities, processes and resources that are a requisite when working with children with special needs. SEP therefore organizes regular workshops on specific topics and therapy interventions related to the different needs; targeting parents, teachers and caregivers.
SEP organizes multidisciplinary training services which target all the professional Therapists and Special Needs Teachers within the organization, with the aim of improving their knowledge, skills and abilities, emphasizing equal partnership with the parents, and building on a child- centered approach.
- Capacity Building in Institutions and Community Groups
SEP provides furniture and therapy equipment, using locally available materials. Educational materials and toys are made in active participation with those involved in the daily interaction with the children. These educational materials and toys are made from affordable and recycled materials whenever possible and adapted to the specific needs of the children.
On request visits to schools, children homes and centres are organized to offer technical assistance to the teachers and caregivers, and to monitor implementation of the learned skills.
- Early Intervention Consultations
SEP organises Early Intervention Consultations. SEP advocates supporting families in caring for their children, therefore during the consultations, parents or caregivers receive information that helps them to better understand the condition of their child, and they obtain advice on how to deal with the challenges at home.
- Creating Awareness
SEP has also been involved in creating awareness on specific conditions and has so far published and widely distributed 7 brochures in both English and Kiswahili (Introducing SEP, Down Syndrome, Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Communication Disorder, Stammering, and Learning Difficulties).
Awareness campaigns on different topics are also arranged through the use of local media and presentations during public events in liaison with other stakeholders.
4.0 PROJECT PROPOSAL
SEP’s policy has been to offer help and support whenever professionals, families, schools, homes and organizations need assistance within the area of special education and rehabilitation.
SEP recruits professionals with training in one area of special needs who are then given further training in paediatric skills with a multidisciplinary approach. This therefore means the need for a variety in professional resources that are accessible to the professionals. This would create a great opportunity for professionals to deepen their knowledge and improve their skills consequently a better approach towards the children.
During the SEP Early Intervention Consultations and Capacity Building in Institutions and Special Needs Groups, we come across a wide variety of conditions and therefore also require a lot of information to be able to handle effectively the conditions.
Assistance with Books
Since SEP functions as a resource centre it would be very useful to expand the library. SEP has a number of videos on different conditions; and a limited number of books and magazines. However, there are a number of standard resource books, and more recent books on conditions, teaching programmes, therapy techniques and toy making available on the market. These are mandatory for an organization working with a multidisciplinary team and dealing with a variety of conditions in children. Acquiring them would be a great asset to our resource centre.
Books are normally very expensive and often not available in Kenya and we would therefore have to order them via Amazon.com
REQUESTED TITLES:
* Children with Cerebral Palsy: A Parents Guide
* The Out of Sync Child
* The Out of Sync Child has Fun
* OT for Children with Special Needs
* How to Set up a Classroom for Students with Autism
* How to Set up a Work Area at Home for a Child with Autism
* Helping Children with Autism Learn
* Social Skills Activities for Special Children
* Life Skills Activities for Special Children
* Siblings of Children with Autism
* Emergence: Labelled Autistic
* Facing Autism
* The Complete IEP Guide: How to Advocate for your Special Ed Child
* Thinking in Pictures and other Reports
* This is Asperger Syndrome
* Classroom Success for LD and ADHD Child
* Epilepsy and the Family: A New Guide
* When Your Child Has a Disability
* Bonding While Learning: Activities to grow your Relationship while Preparing for Reading Success
* Look Who’s Talking
* The New Language of Toys: Teaching Communication Skills to Children with Special Needs: A guide for Parents and Teachers
* Childhood Motor Speech Disability
* Children with Visual Impairments: Social Interaction, Language and Learning
Seeing Clearly
* The Connected Child: Bring Hope and Healing to your Adoptive Family
* Chicken Soup for the Soul
* A Parents and Teachers Guide to the Special Needs Child
* Paediatric Massage Revised for Children with Special Needs
* A Parent’s Guide to Developmental Delays: Recognising and Coping with Missed Milestones in Speech, Movement, Learning and Other Areas
If you would like additional information and clarification on any matter related to this proposal, please do not hesitate to contact us on:
Special Education Professionals
C/o Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital
P.O. Box 42325, Nairobi 00100.
Tel. (02) 7206000 ext. 322
Mobile: 0733-267869
Your investment in these matters will go along way in supporting the lives of the special child in Kenya.
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