Early Intervention conference in St. Petersburg, Russia

Between July 1st and July 3rd in St. Petersburg, Russia, representatives of Karin Dom took part in the regional conference “Early Intervention to Promote Child Development and Mental Health: From Institutional Care to Family Environment.” The conference was organized by the ISEI (International Society on Early Intervention) in conjunction with St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg Early Intervention Institute and University of Washington, USA. Major goal of the conference was to integrate and share the experience and information accumulated with respect to early intervention, to identify strategies for working with young children from different social contexts and their families. The conference was attended by specialists and researchers from Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Latvia, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Croatia, Great Britain, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Greece, Spain, Italy, USA, Australia, New Zealand, China, Bulgaria and others.

As part of the symposium “Increasing Access and High Quality Early Intervention Practices in Central Europe and Eurasia” were presented 5 projects from Ukraine, Georgia and Bulgaria financed by the Open Society Foundation’s Early Childhood Program. Karin Dom’s presentation at this symposium reflected our Foundation’s work on the Early Intervention Programme, the financial sustainability achieved through the municipal-delegated activities of Varna Municipality, as well as the prospects for development of early intervention services in Bulgaria.

The colleagues from Karin Dom exchanged experiences, learned about early intervention practices in other countries, as well as more about topics such as interaction with parents, language and communication, nutrition, prenatal psychology, sensory disorders, institutional care and deinstitutionalization and others.

Karin Dom is grateful for the support that contributes to the development of the “Early Intervention” and wishes to thank Holly X-Small, Senior Program Director of Early Childhood Program at the Open Society, and the consultant Judy Newman, director and co-founder of the Early Childhood CARES – program early intervention and special early childhood education from Oregon, USA!