Let's build the future here and now. NGO "Autism. Conscious Parenting is implementing a new project / Let's build the future here and now. The NGO "Autism. Conscious parenthood" implements a new project

The public organization "Autism. Conscious Parenting (Zaporizhzhia) even before participating in the project "Crisis in Ukraine: Response and Recovery Taking into Account the Needs of People with Disabilities under the Leadership and Coordination of Disability Organizations (Phase 2) (hereinafter - the Project), declared itself as an active community that protects the rights of children with autism spectrum disorders and their parents, helps its wards successfully start their adult lives. Within the framework of the project "Autism. Conscious Parenting has launched its own project, Building the Future Here and Now.

""Our members are families in which children and young people with autism are raised and live," says Head of the NGO "Autism. Conscious Parenting" Natalia OstroglyadThe main problem our members faced in 2022-2023 was the lack of educational and social services in the community. Territorial social and educational institutions of Zaporizhzhia region, all of them without exception, work online and only when there is no alarm. Therefore, socialization and educational processes are not systematically developed. Parents are concerned about the increased anxiety of children and youth with disabilities, as well as the lack of socialization and acquisition of new skills in accordance with age-related norms. Currently, there is a trend in Zaporizhzhia to create spaces for children's development from large international donors, but most of the centers created in the city do not accept young people, especially those with disabilities. Arguing that they do not have the appropriate specialists".

The organization conducted a survey among its members, which revealed the following problems:

• financial difficulties (price increases, the need for treatment and the purchase of expensive medical products and services);
• psychological and emotional exhaustion (deterioration of the psycho-emotional state of youth and parents due to general nervousness, constant anxiety and the inability to restore a stable training regimen, in most cases during puberty);
• Lack of access to new knowledge and skills for young people with autism, both in everyday life and for the purpose of mastering a future profession;
• neglecting the needs of families raising children and young people with disabilities, including mental disabilities;
• lack of sports and entertainment facilities for young people in frontline Zaporizhzhia.

"Taking into account these and many other problems, the goals and objectives of the project "Building the Future Here and Now" were defined," emphasizes Natalia Ostrohlyad, "They are to strengthen the capacity and effectiveness of the organization through activities to master new skills with the involvement of parents, group and individual meetings on psychological support and awareness by April 2, World Autism Awareness Day.

It is also planned to improve the psycho-emotional state of young people with autism through the development of programs and the Socialization Studio, a class in the Creative Workshops series with parents as presenters. Among other things, it is planned to purchase equipment and supplies for the classes, hold events on April 2, World Autism Awareness Day, hold an interactive event with specialists and parents, and hold an online exhibition of creative works by young people with autism in the Zaporizhzhia region.

The project is already being implemented. In January, the first meeting of the Socialization Studio for young people with autism took place. The event was held in cooperation with the NGO "Territory of Personal Development "Integration". "In our project, the emphasis is on Creative Workshops, namely art therapy classes, emphasizing Natalia Ostroglyad. Once again, young people express themselves through creativity. This is the third meeting within the project, during which young people painted and relaxed". In early February, a meeting was held with O. Bondarenko, a teacher of fine arts at a school in the city of Volnyansk. Under the expert's careful guidance, the participants painted seascapes, as they missed summer, warmth and the sea.

The project "Crisis in Ukraine: Response and Recovery with the Needs of People with Disabilities" project, led and coordinated by organizations of people with disabilities (Phase 2), is being implemented by the National Assembly of People with Disabilities of Ukraine with the support of the European Disability Forum (EDF) and the Christian Blind Mission (CBM). As part of the project, NGOs working with people with disabilities prepared and defended grant applications for short-term projects. These projects will improve access to social services and humanitarian aid for people with disabilities, which is especially important in the context of war and the complications it has caused.

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Let's build the future here and now. NGO "Autism. Conscious parenthood” implements a new project

The non-governmental organization "Autism. Conscious parenthood (Zaporizhzhia) even before participating in the project "Crisis in Ukraine: Response and recovery taking into account the needs of people with disabilities under the leadership and coordination of organizations of people with disabilities (2nd phase) (hereinafter - the Project) declared itself as an active community that protects the rights of children with autism spectrum disorders and their parents, helping their wards to successfully start adult life. As part of the NGO Project "Autism. Conscious parenthood" started its own project "Building the future here and now".

"The members of our organization are families in which children and youth with autism are brought up and live," says the head of the NGO "Autism. The main problem faced by our members in 2022-2023 is the lack of educational and social services in the community. The territorial social and educational institutions of the Zaporizhzhia region, all without exception, work in an online format and only during the period when there is no alarm. Therefore, socialization and educational processes do not have systematic development. Parents worry about the increased anxiety of children and youth with disabilities, as well as the lack of socialization and acquisition of new skills in accordance with age norms. Now in Zaporizhzhia, there is a tendency to create spaces for the development of children from large international donors, but most of the centers created in the city do not accept young people, especially those with disabilities. Arguing that they do not have the appropriate specialists."

The organization conducted a survey among its members, which revealed the following problems:

financial difficulties (increase in prices, the need for treatment and the purchase of expensive medical drugs and services);

psychological and emotional exhaustion (deterioration of the psycho-emotional state of youth and parents due to general nervousness, constant anxiety and the impossibility of restoring a steady schedule of classes, in most cases puberty);

lack of access of young people with autism to master new knowledge and skills both in everyday life and with the aim of mastering a future profession;

relegating to the background the needs of families in which children and youth with disabilities, in particular mental disabilities, are raised;

lack of sports and entertainment facilities in front-line Zaporizhzhia for young people.

"Taking into account these and many other problems, the goals and objectives of the project "Let's build the future here and now" were determined," emphasizes Nataliya Ostroglyad. "They consist in strengthening the capacity and efficiency of the organization's work by conducting activities to learn new skills with the involvement of parents, holding group and individual meetings for psychological support and awareness until April 2, World Autism Awareness Day.

It is also planned to improve the psycho-emotional state of young people with autism through the development of programs and the holding of the Socialization Studio - classes of the "Creative Workshops" series with the involvement of parents as presenters. Among other things, it is planned to purchase equipment and consumables for classes, to hold events until April 2, World Autism Awareness Day, to hold an interactive event with specialists and parents, as well as to hold an online exhibition of creative works of children and youth with autism in the Zaporizhzhia region.

The project is already being implemented. In January, the first meeting of the Studio for Socialization of Youth with Autism took place. The event was held in cooperation with the NGO "Territory of Personality Development "Integration". "In our project, the emphasis is on the Creative Workshop, namely art therapy classes," emphasizes Nataliya Ostroglyad. This is the third meeting within the framework of the project, during which young people drew and rested." At the beginning of February, a meeting was held with O. Bondarenko, a teacher of fine arts at the Vilnyansk school. Under the sensitive guidance of an expert, the meeting participants painted seascapes, because they really missed summer, warmth and the sea.

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The event was held within the framework of the project "Meeting the urgent needs that arose or worsened during the martial law in Ukraine, of persons with visual disabilities, including IDPs in the Poltava region", which is implemented by the Poltava regional organization of the Ukrainian Society of the Blind within the framework of cooperation with the Civil Union "All-.Ukrainian Public Association "National Assembly of People with Disabilities of Ukraine" within the framework of the implementation of the project "Crisis in Ukraine: Response and recovery taking into account the needs of people with disabilities under the leadership and coordination of organizations of people with disabilities (2nd phase )", which is implemented by the "NGO "NAPD" in cooperation with the European Disability Forum (EDF) and the Christian Mission. of the Blind (CBM).