Karin Dom’s team at a work visit in Romania

Between September 16-20, part of our team went on work visit at Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The visit was part of ENABLIN+ project with the participation of partners from 8 European countries – Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands, Romania, France and Reunion island, France.

The project has the goal of developing a module for practical training of specialists with different professions and experience and parents of children with multiple disabilities.

Children with complex and intense support needs

The project introduces and promotes the term “children with complex and intense support needs” that will be a substitute for the term “multiple disabilities” (in French “polyhandicapé“). This is being done with the purpose of redirecting the focus from the disabling condition to the necessity of a system for complex support for the children with such disabilities.

At the meeting at Cluj-Napoca, our team took part in work groups for preparation of the training modules that will be developed as part of the project. In those modules, the eight domains of Quality of Life (QoL), created by Dr. R. Schalock, will be the focus:

• emotional well-being – contentment, self-concept, lack of stress
• interpersonal relations – interactions, relationships, supports
• material well-being – financial status, employment, housing
• personal development – education, personal competence, performance
• physical well-being – health and health care, activities of daily living, leisure
• self-determination – autonomy / personal control, personal goals, choices
• social inclusion – community integration and participation, roles, supports
• rights – legal, human (respect, dignity, equality)

All participating organizations will have the chance to realize and test the training modules in their own country and in September 2016, there will be an international training event in Milan that will include a more vast circle of participants.

In Cluj-Napoca, on behalf of Karin Dom, presentation was given by Dr. Apostol Apostolov and Nikoleta Yoncheva. According to Dr. Apostolov:

“…the integration of all eight domains of Quality of Life, in training modules for professionals and parents, presents new challenges for all who work with children with complex and intense support needs. We, both specialists and parents, are being called out to put the children’s personalities at the center of everything we are doing and to join efforts with the thought that everyone has their role for a better and more dignified life for the children…”

During their stay, our team visited two schools for children with special needs in Transylvania – one public with teaching of Romanian language and one private with teaching of Hungarian language.

You can find out more on the ENABLIN + project at: www.enablinplus.eu