Hello, hello!

Sorry I didn’t get to you yesterday; I was having technical difficulties. We had a fabulous Thursday! We were surprised to be quickly shuttled into a press conference upon arriving at the OMNI center yesterday morning. They had arranged for a TV crew and several reporters to interview us. They asked many questions about the organization and our partnership. They also asked critical questions about autism: In the states, are they educated in regular schools? Where do children with autism receive services here? Is this a real problem? Etc. It’s always interesting to see what they actually report, but their awareness level is definitely rising and they don’t seem to be as afraid to tell the truth. I’m hoping we can get a translated copy of the article.

The last day of our conference, and the conference as a whole, was a tremendous success. On the last day we had 86 people present. At the end, they delivered 82 certificates to those participants that had been present all four days. It was extraordinary. Our behavior presentation went well. I was very comfortable speaking this time and was able to be more animated and even walk around as opposed to Monday when I was afraid to leave my notes. We didn’t have much time in the afternoon to make our visual supports, but we managed to get one thing done that’s actually 6 in 1. Afterwards I trained all the teachers of Pahinets how to use the Boardmaker program USNOF purchased for them. We were able to successfully change the language to Ukrainian and now they’ll be able to make their own visuals.

We had a great debriefing session with Lubov and have already started working on ideas for next year. The head doctor joined us and we spoke in more detail about the Child Development Center. This center is incredibly important to me. This is the start of great change in the field of special education in Ukraine. If the Board approves this project and we’re able to successfully secure funding then I’ve volunteered to be the director/program manager for the Child Development Center (coordinating on behalf of USNOF). Progress is happening and it’s amazing to be apart of it.

Dianne and I were surprised at how exhausted we felt once the conference was over. We’re ready to come home and look forward to whatever R & R we can get. We had a great time visiting the baby house this morning and then doing some shopping this afternoon. The baby house always breaks my heart, but I was pleased to hear that the President of Ukraine has started a program, within the last year or so, for foster care and adoption. The government is also providing more financial support to those families that have a child with special needs and now more children are remaining with their families rather than being placed in an orphanage, therefore, the numbers are decreasing somewhat. Since this is my fourth year here I wasn’t too interested in purchasing souvenirs so I went on a hunt for wedding shoes. (They have some great shoes here)!  And I’m happy to say that on my wedding day I’ll walk down the aisle with shoes purchased in Ukraine. )

We spent a lovely evening talking to Victor over dinner. You can always count on him to make our hearts burn and practically burst with even more passion for this project. We leave Rivne early tomorrow morning and will start the long trip home. Happy Fourth of July!!!!

The last day of the conference was as successful as the first three. We started a half hour late because of the press conference (this was my first time being interviewed for Ukrainian tv — I was nervous — hopefully what I said made sense!). They asked a lot of the same questions we might have at home, for example how early can autism be identified, what is the cause, can it be treated, etc. They asked me what was the topic for today, which was challenging behaviors. I thought it was interested that they asked if that was the same in the United States. I said yes, I had done this workshop many times in the U.S. Kelly and I approached challenging behaviors using positive behavioral supports and functional analysis. This audience responded the same as audiences at home but jumping straight to the function of the behavior without specifically describing the behavior — interesting how we are so similar. We did a Make It-Take It in the afternoon using Barbara Bloomfield’s trifold. I told the audience that everytime I do this workshop in the US, someone makes the same mistake of cutting the panels apart when they need to stay together. When we finished, everyone applaued that no one in this audience made that mistake — yea!  USNOF had purchased Boardmaker for Pahinents, so all materials were in Ukrainian. We are learning — this make it-take it went much better than our last attempt! We then gave out wonderful certificates at the end. There were 86 people who attended all four days! That means we probably had 100 on that first day! When we debriefed with Lubov, it occurs to me that folks are probably ready for more intermediate level training, and not introductory. They want more detailed information on specific strategies; Olga briefly highlighted approaches such as ABA, PECS, Floortime, etc.

During the morning break, a parent came up to me and asked it I remembered her from last year — she is the head of the parent organization from other region. I did. Last year, she had a one year old baby, asked lots of questions, and was very active and outspoken. At the time, I said to one of the students, she is going to be a leader. And here she is! They want help in a region 2 hours away. I took her to speak to Jason, and I believe she is going to meet with Karen during the next trip. Exciting.

This has been a very successful conference. I was so grateful to have “found” Galina and Olga. These are two wonderful people who contacted with the audience and made the conference experience so rich. I couldn’t have asked for a better conference. Dianne

What a wonderfully exciting day! This morning’s events are rather dull to report (except for my cappucino and chocolate croissant) because I spent the morning finalizing my powerpoint presentation for tomorrow, but the afternoon was filled with great opportunities. It’s a shame I can’t stay here to teach for a little while because I always get so riled up and passionate when I’m here. (More than usual anyway).

The head pediatrician at the OMNI center has become more involved this year. He really wanted to sit down with all of us to talk more about what they do there, how USNOF can continue to support them, and to give us a tour of the facility. I’ve mentioned before that the OMNI center houses the American-Ukrainian Birth Defects Prevention Program. Out of this program rose the intense interest and evident need for early intervention, and the eventual creation of Pahinets. It’s a lot easier for them to identify certain disorders such as Downs Syndrome because of the obvious facial features associated with it. They’ve also become increasingly better at diagnosing Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. However, they have immense difficulty recognizing and diagnosing more subtle developmental disorders such as Autism. Part of this comes from lack of awareness, training, and diagnostic tools, but although 75% of the efforts of the OMNI center are spent on diagnostics, it’s all done by neurologists, genetecists, and pediatricians. No one on the staff specializes in child development or education. They’re able to provide medical and genetic support, but that help only goes so far. Children who visit their center with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Autism, and other related disorders receive little help, or treatment, from their facility.

The staff at the OMNI center has started to brainstorm the next step. They want to start a child development center that would include a whole team of specialists, which would focus on studying developmental disorders, diagnosing them, and then treating them. Currently, children with developmental disorders are sent to the regular schools, but due to behavior, etc. the teachers don’t know what to do with them and in some cases the parents abandon them. Since special education as we know it is not yet apart of the Ukrainian school system, the OMNI center has taken it upon itself to basically start special education. They would be the ones diagnosing children and creating an individual work plan for each child. They wouldn’t work with the child five times a week, but they do want to provide services and trainings for the parents. It’s at least a start. My hope would be that as their knowledge, experience, and methodologies improve and expand that they would eventually transfer these services to the schools.

If we’re interested, the OMNI center would love to partner with us on this project. Of course, the only thing we know that this entails is money! We’re not entirely sure of the specifics or other expectations. Jason is going to meet with the Directors again tomorrow and learne more about what they want/expect from us. It’s a baby step, but I consider this to be a HUGE baby step, especially in the right direction. I pray that God’s will be done in this situation, and that He clarifies how we may assist these people. This seems to be a tremendous opportunity. I always get so excited so I’m trying to step back and be patient and wait for guidance.

The other good piece of news is that Lubov also joined Tamara in the meeting regarding another center in Rivne for children with special needs. She was able to give us a quick update this afternoon. Who knows how quickly this will happen, but the local government realizes the intensity of raising children with severe disabilities and wants to extend coverage until the age of 18. The down side is that it would only be for children with severe disabilities–children they’ve deemed to be UNteachable. There would be some care and therapy provided, but little else. It’s not a lot, and I may not agree with all of it, but at least it’s another step in kind of the right direction. Now we just need special education for the rest of the children until the age of 18. Patience. It’s a virtue right?

Dianne and I have spent most of the evening preparing for our presentation tomorrow. I think it should go well and we’re both hoping the afternoon session of creating visuals will be both helpful and successful. I thought we had around 60 people on Monday. Well, Dianne counted over 75 today, which means on Monday that we had over 100 people present. It’s been real exciting.

I should have one more report for you tomorrow and then we’ll start to prepare to make our way home. Thanks again for your prayers and support. It means a lot and it’s definitely felt and appreciated.