The Specialist Must Know What Children Feel

Do we know what the children are feeling? Can we understand whether a problem is sensory or behavioral? How can we observe and analyze the child’s behaviour? How can we successfully plan the sensory sessions?

The participants in one of the open trainings at Karin Dom on the subject of Sensory Integration found the answers to those and other important questions. The training took place between 2nd and 4th of July 2014, 

Trainers, Zvezdelina Atanasova and Andreas Andreou, shared with the participants Karin Dom’s experience on the matter. In recent years, the sensory integration therapy became one of the main approaches in working with children with special needs at our centre.

The goal of the trainings in Sensory Integration, is to improve the understanding of the participants when it comes to the children’s behaviour and their needs. Also, the participants receive better preparation in meeting and fulfilling those sensory needs.

The fulfilled sensory needs in children with special needs, leads to a significant improvement in their condition and also to:

• reduced need for stimulation and self harm,
• improved ability to concentrate,
• participating and learning,
• increased independence in the functional activities,
• spontaneous expression of new abilities and skills,
• improved social interaction,
• reduced anxiety and fear,
• better communication
• improved ability to manage absent – mindedness and interruption,
• improved ability to adjust to change
• improved ability to express joy and laughter. And what is more beautiful than the sight of happy children?

From the beginning of the year, Zvezdelina and Andreas have led trainings on the subject to 150 people from all over the country. For that same period, Karin Dom’s Training Centre have led 25 trainings in total, 1 conference, theme meetings and round tables, with more than 650 specialists, parents and students from Bulgaria, the Balkans and Europe, taking part.

Among the most popular subjects are: Autism; Sensory Integration – Do We Know What the Children Are Feeling?; Communicating with Children with Special Needs; The Montessori Method and the Child’s Right of Choice; Creating a Supportive Educational Environment at Kindergartens and Schools of General Education for Children with Special Needs; Early Intervention.